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Ending Loneliness (PG)

I don't own Pokémon.

Summary: Her life consisted of nothing more than day to day monatony, and fighting for the basic right to that way of life. Through it all she had learned to depend on no one, as she was alone in an seemingly uncaring world. But can a chance encounter with what seemed to be another adversary show her the light?

Well I'm posting this here. It was a nightmare to write at times. Writing first person POV is torture for me and then the writer's block made it worse. But I finally figured out how to get this to work, so here it is. This plot bunny wouldn't leave me alone all summer. It was also supposed to be a oneshot, but when I write getting my thoughts down on paper tends to be longer than what I what I thought, so I divided it in half, then into chapters, then this chapter in half.

I'd also like to thank C. Gholy who let me know I wasn't screwing this up.

The beginning of this story takes place prior to The Chikorita Rescue in the timeline. It's about what led up to that and how it happened all from Chikorita's POV. Everything that happens plays some role to the plot. All of this ties in with the shipping in fact. I think you'll like the later chapters especially.

Slowly but surely, I started to feel the sun's rays blanket me with their warmth, as I felt myself drift back into consciousness. However I continued to lay there, until I finally forced my eyes open, which proved to be slightly painful when the bright light invaded them. I awkwardly stumbled to my feet, and tried to stretch out the kinks I had gained from I when I was sleeping.

I looked around trying to get a sense of my surroundings, but my bleary vision only provided me with... a sea of swirly green? Blinking rapidly to focus, the scene then changed to that of, uh, trees and grass? Yeah, that should be right. This area was supposed to be mostly forest I think. I yawned trying to clear my sleepy head.

What should I do first? An impatient growl from my stomach answered that question, so I set off to find something to eat.

I sniffed around for a while. It wasn't a very big or thick forest, so if there was anything decent enough to put in my mouth it wouldn’t be that hard to find. Though it got pretty annoying when over half the morning had gone by, and I hadn’t found a single thing worth even taking a second look at. I could only sigh. This is what I got for waking up later than most of the Pokémon here, since they had probably raided the place at dawn. I grumbled at the idea of having to walk all the way back to the grassy area where I was yesterday. It would be the afternoon by the by the time I got there, and I was hungry now! Still I grudgingly wandered off in that direction, muttering my frustrations along the way.

Suddenly, however, my rant was interrupted by a sweet smell wafting up into my nose and making my mouth water. It was like it was calling out to me, so I dashed toward the source as fast as I could run.

And when I stopped running, there in front of me sat a large tree filled with pink round fruits, and not another Pokémon in sight. This had to be too good to be true. Yet when I closed my eyes to see if it was real and reopened them... it was still right there in front of me, just asking me to reach out and take it. I had to admit I was drooling. The height of those wonderful smelling things didn’t faze me at all. I simply whipped out my vines and picked out as many as I wanted. And wow, did you know they tasted even better than they smelled?

“Grrrrrrr.”

Huh?

I turned to look at the sudden noise. What I saw a little bit off to my right was an orange Pokémon with a white tuft of hair on its head, a matching tuft on its tail, and some black stripes going down its back. A Pokémon that was also better known as a very angry looking Growlithe. It seems this really was too good to be true after all. Like most things in my life.

“(What do you think you’re you doing?!)” he growled.

“(Um, I’m eating. What does look like?)”

That was my reply. What else could I say?

“(That’s my fruit, from my tree, in my territory!)”

Oh. Well that explains why it hasn’t been ransacked by the Mankey and who knows else yet. Yep, definitely too good to be true then. Of course, I had to ask… “(How was I supposed to know?)” I [I]really[/I didn't like his tone.

“(Leave! Now!)” he barked before he added as a threat, “(Unless you want to feel my fire, Grass Pokémon.)"

“(Fine! Keep your stupid fruit!)” I started to leave, but only because I could now pick up his scent markings near the one of the exposed roots proving his claim. I’d have no qualms fighting over it otherwise, since this guy had royally irked me. “(But it’s not because I’m afraid of your fire.)” I muttered tossing my head in a snuff. I just had to get that in there didn’t I?

That’s all it took to set him off.

“(You'd better be!)” he howled immediately lunging for me.

I dodged to the right of his attack, since I hadn't taken my eyes off of him. I knew better than that. The moment his front paws hit the ground he wheeled himself around to attack again by releasing a stream of burning embers from his mouth. I just barely ducked away in time from most of it, but some of them still managed to hit me. This was too close for comfort. I knew I had to get ready before he attacked again.

When he saw his attack hit its mark he smirked at me, as if that would make me fear him. “It’s gonna take a lot more that.” I thought glaring back harshly.

Growling, I swooshed the leaf on my head around to throw several razor sharp leaves at him. I wanted to wipe away that smirk so bad…

But the smirk stayed there, until he opened his mouth to unlease yet another stream of embers that canceled out the attack. I grumbled and jumped out of the way when a few of them even hit the spot I had been standing on. Now it looked like he was going to laugh.

He finally stopped smiling, but it unfortunately it wasn’t because he was afraid. No it seemed like he was concentrating, as if he was struggling within himself. A bright aura began to form around him. He had to be building up for a nasty attack. If I could just get there before he completed it, I would have a chance…

“Rooowl!” he howled when the flames engulfed his body.

Too late. I didn't even have time to think about what was happening before a living fireball started hurtling towards me. I was way too close. I couldn't get out of the way now. Any direction I could try to run in he would probably match me. But even so, I kept looking for a way out.

And then… at the last second I saw it.

I could feel the heat of what was about to hit me, but luckily my vines were faster. I shot them straight up around a branch, hoisting my body out of range at the last second. The fire just tickled my feet when it barely passed beneath me.

He finally ended the fireball a little farther away, and I saw him stare back in shock. He was acting like he couldn't believe he missed me. Now it was my turn to smirk when I dropped back down and asked simply, “(You think I'm afraid of you?)” I was feeling pretty good right about now, and it showed with the smile on my face.

His face; however, soon changed from disbelief to uncontrollable rage. I blinked as his throat released one of the nastiest growls I'd ever heard. In fact it didn’t even sound like a growl, or not a normal one anyway. It was more like a deep guttural noise that almost bellowed while in the air. Then he howled, but it wasn’t a exactly like a howl either. It was a roar. Wait? Growlithe don’t roar. At least not any that I’ve ever heard.

Only monsters can truly roar. The monsters that live in the deepest, darkest parts of the forest, and they love to make those horrible sounds at night when you try to sleep.

Unfortunately for him I wasn't impressed by his little show. He would have to do a lot better than that to scare me. There are things far scarier in the world than some angry Growlithe, and it wasn't like I was afraid of those things either. I snorted back at him, “(Is that all you got?)”

His body shook with untamed fury, his eyes told of absolute hatred, his lips curled back to display every bit of his shiny white fangs, and yet I didn’t even flinch. I was ready for anything he wanted to throw at me. I never back down from a fight, no matter what.

Though I couldn’t push away the nagging idea that something was wrong.

He opened his mouth for another ember attack. Yet he looked completely tensed up compared to how easy he was doing it before. Hmm.. In fact, shouldn’t it have come out by now? But it seemed to be stuck in his mouth.

Then it dawned on me: This was not another ember attack. Pure fire was building in his mouth.

I might be stubborn, but I’m not stupid. I had to get out of here! I couldn't kick his butt if I let myself get roasted!

I glanced around desperately hunting for some kind of cover. Everywhere I looked though I couldn't find anything. A tree wouldn't cut it since it wouldn't hold against the blast, those rocks were too small, and there was not a single hole or crevice in sight. Darn it! I refuse to lose to this guy.

The fire that was gathering in his mouth was still there. Shouldn't he have released it by now? So what was he-? And I saw his eyes had narrowed on me. Not good. I knew what he was doing. He was merely trying to aim that thing. Aim it right at me!

Time’s up.

I had to make a decision. There’s no second chances. It was now or never.

A huge stream of fire erupted from his mouth. And I did the only thing I could by diving behind the closest rock and digging frantically. Within a second I felt the heat. I dropped as close to the ground as possible trying hard not to get burned.

It was so hot. Opening my eyes for a second I saw nothing but fire everywhere. It was so close I felt like I could even smell it, even smelling the pure burning vapors. What else was burning? Was I burning? My skin felt like it was searing, but I couldn't tell how bad it was yet. Was it over? Was this it?

Then the flames stopped. The heat lingered temporarily, only before the most wonderful cooling breeze blew it away. I reopened my eyes slowly. It was over. Was I okay?

My daze wore off quickly when I checked over myself realizing that I was. Just a few burns and some soot. When I gazed upward I saw the reason why I got off so easily.

The rock had partially melted and was still smoldering. Scattered embers covered it giving off a bright red heat.

I gulped. That was close. Way too close.

I could not let that happen again. I had to put a stop to it.

I peeked around the rock, and there he was panting heavily. He seemed to be out of it, with his legs sprawled out in an attempt to hold himself up. So I take it that he put all of his energy into one attack did he? Thought he could finish me off just like that? Well he's got another thing coming.

Because this ends now.

No more playing games. I wouldn't let him get away with firing off another attack like that. It was time to use my trump card.

Standing up I walked away from the rock. He obviously saw me since his face was covered in absolute shock. He couldn't believe I was right there? That I escaped his uber attack? Pfft.

Oh well, here we go. I ran toward him at full speed. He only gawked, showing even more that he really couldn't believe it. Soon enough though he found his composure, and shook his head of that moment of weakness. Quickly he began trying to form another attack.

It didn't work however. He only coughed up smoke instead, because he must have put too much effort into the last one. Now he couldn't fire off another one as fast. That was his mistake.

I was almost there.

A second later he stopped hacking and started building up the fire again.

Not this time. I was within range now.

I threw out my vines as fast as I could. The hard pointed tips flew directly toward the target: His head.

"Roooooooowl!" he howled in agony. I had sent them straight between his eyes. My trademark. This attack was my own personal one. The force of it sent him backward to the ground with a "oomph". He never knew new what hit him.

I stood there for a brief moment looking at my former adversary; who was now on the ground covering his head with his paws. His smirk was definitely gone, and I couldn't stop my next words even if I wanted to.

"(I told you I didn't fear your fire,)" I smirked.

With that I left him there. I'd heard him still muttering about a "Chikorita"; I had taught him his lesson. He knew now I wouldn't run away in fear, but instead would only leave with victory.

Woah. Ash's Chikorita really is a tough little cookie, isn't she? I absolutely love the idea for this. I've always loved Chikoshipping because her fierce personality fits well with his soft and caring demeanor. There is so much that the two could bring to each other in a relationship. I also really want to see Chikorita find something that is really good AND true. I like that you're writing from Chikorita's point of view and hope you stick with it some of the time in later chapters because my favorite part of Pokemon x Human shipping stories is watching the Pokemon go gaga over the human and admit to themselves how much they love them.

Only constructive criticism I have is that it could use a good proofreading before you post it. I noticed a lot of missing words or duplicate words and stuff like that. I'd be happy to proofread if you wanted me to. =) It's what I do for a living. lol I'd be willing to do it for free in the name of Chikorita's heart though! XD Send me a PM if interested.

Woah. Ash's Chikorita really is a tough little cookie, isn't she? I absolutely love the idea for this. I've always loved Chikoshipping because her fierce personality fits well with his soft and caring demeanor. There is so much that the two could bring to each other in a relationship. I also really want to see Chikorita find something that is really good AND true. I like that you're writing from Chikorita's point of view and hope you stick with it some of the time in later chapters because my favorite part of Pokemon x Human shipping stories is watching the Pokemon go gaga over the human and admit to themselves how much they love them.

Yes, she is. I'm writing the Chikorita that I saw defeat Bulbasaur and nearly take down Charizard. I love Chikoshipping for the very same reasons. That's the point of this fic. :P I always imagined this from Chikorita's point of view, the third person narrator just didn't seem to work for this. Don't worry, the entire fic is from her pov. And I think you'll love the later chapters.

Only constructive criticism I have is that it could use a good proofreading before you post it. I noticed a lot of missing words or duplicate words and stuff like that. I'd be happy to proofread if you wanted me to. =) It's what I do for a living. lol I'd be willing to do it for free in the name of Chikorita's heart though! XD Send me a PM if interested.

For staters I'd like to apologize to my readers, and I know you're out there since this thing has over a hundred views. Every time I look at the first chapter now I cringe, so eventually I'll go back and at least make it decent, for now though try to ignore the mistakes. ^ ^; I can write better than that, and plus with a little help proofing, I promise you this chapter will look better. Now what do I say? On to the fic!

A few days after the food fight in the forest, I had come to the conclusion that it was time to look for greener grass. While it was true that I was always up for a battle and that I didn't back down no matter what, the idea of going to war over food every day was ridiculous, not to mention I was mainly fighting over scraps anyway.

So, I wandered back toward the mountains. It didn't bother me to leave that place. It wasn't like it was my home. My home wasn't in one spot like some Pokémon. The world was my home and I wouldn't have it any other way because nothing beat the freedom of being able go wherever I wanted.

I had searched everywhere for the next place I would find reliable food, yet two weeks had passed and I still couldn't find a place to stay in. Though just as I was getting frustrated I finally found another meadow. The nice thing about this meadow was that it was in full bloom with flowers. I guessed that all those flowers provided enough food for the Pokémon there. Even luckier for me I knew that there weren't a lot of them either. From what I could tell, there were only some Oddish and Hoppip, a couple of Rattata, and even though I couldn't see them, I could smell the scent of a few Ekans too. Naturally, they weren't there for the flowers, and the hunting wasn't all that great in a wide open place like this one -- they were here for the sun, as it was obviously a perfect place to sunbathe. That is what made this place perfect. I knew then that I could stay for awhile.

Over the next week I ate my fill of flowers and sunbathed to my heart's content. The Ekans didn't bother me, since it had only taken one battle with them to set things straight. Word spread about that, and they pretty much ignored me.

I had to admit though, there was a downside. For one, it could get quite cold at night. Actually though, it wasn't exactly that warm during the day due to it being closer to the mountains. Luckily I had learned to deal with that kind of situation over the years by sunbathing for long periods of time.

Another thing was that I was out in the open without cover when I slept, though that didn't faze me a lot since I had been forced to do it plenty of times before. Still, I couldn't help but not like it. Not knowing what was going on when I was asleep out there wasn't comforting, so I chose to do a lot of my sleeping while I sunbathed in the day. Other than these things though, the meadow had been the best place I'd been to so far.

Today hadn't been any different. I had found some sweet blossoms to eat this morning. Now all I wanted to do was find a nice spot to stretch out in the sun. Once I found a soft area, I snuggled into the blades of grass, letting the sun's rays fully cover me. It felt like pure bliss. Soon the drowsiness overcame me as I felt myself slip into a deep sleep.

Yet even as I closed my eyes I felt a nagging feeling that was trying to tell me something, but I didn't know what. It didn't matter anyway. As soon as I had considered the thought in my mind, I had begun crossing the threshold into unconsciousness.

---

"Wow! Look at this place. There's flowers everywhere."

"Yeah, and look at the Pokémon. They're all so relaxed. I don't think they're afraid of us."

"Maybe they don't notice we're here."

"Or maybe they're not as tense as the others because this place is so far off the road. They don't expect anyone to come here except other Pokémon, plus they can see anyone coming from far away, so they don't worry about being surprised."

"I can't wait to get started."

Wait, what was that? Sounds. What sounds? Floating around were these noises, and they didn't make any sense. Nothing made sense at the moment. I couldn't think. Was this a dream, or wasn't it... but it was? I didn't know. What was this? Where was I? What was I? What? Huh?

More noises and they were becoming louder. It didn't stop, for every time I thought it would I'd hear it once more. I think I knew now... Hey, that was right. I was me. But if I was me, then what was going on?

"Hey! Look, it's a Chikorita!"

That sound, that... that voice. It was a voice. Chikorita? That was familiar.

I remembered! I was me, and I was a Chikorita. I was here, but where was here? There was grass. Yeah, that was right too. I was lying in the meadow. But what exactly was going on? The voices?

Wait! Voices?!

I opened my eyes to find three humans standing in front of me. I guess they were two boys and a girl? One had shaggy brown hair, and a red top and blue bottom. Why humans covered themselves in different colors was something I didn't understand. The next boy looked even weirder; he had darker, shorter hair than the first, yet it was his eyes that were so strange. They had something shiny on them, that is his eyes reflected the sunlight. I had never seen such a thing before. The fact that he had a white top and black bottom didn't even compare to those eyes. They were so different. Speaking of strange, something looked odd about that girl too, but I couldn't really tell from the way she was standing behind them.

This was not good. Humans were nothing but trouble. Sometimes I'd heard of where they came to to take Pokémon away from their homes so that they could bring more humans to live there instead, but I knew it got worse, so much worse. There were those that tried to make you their pets. They would catch you to make you do as they say. You would battle, or not battle, because of what they wanted. I snorted at that. As if. No one was gonna tell me what to do if I didn't want to do it.

But oh well, I'd made my bed, and now I had to sleep in it I guess. I should have chosen a more secluded spot to sleep in, as I'd rather know what they had with them than be surprised. It was not like I was gonna back down though. I was ready to battle anything they threw at me.

The shaggy brown haired one spoke first, "All right, I'm gonna go for it! I need a Grass type. This one is perfect."

"Sure, but if you lose, we'll go for it next," said the guy with the shiny things over his eyes.

"Don't worry about that, I'm not going to lose."

"Keep telling yourself that." I thought.

"I've got the best battler for this, remember?" And with that he pulled out one of those cursed balls and tossed it as far as he could throw. At the same time he screamed, "Go, Cyndaquil!"

He smiled back at his friends and said, "I've got the perfect type match up."

Next thing I knew he looked as if he was straining himself, so I got ready for whatever could come next. He was probably building up an attack.

Then fire lit up on his back.

"Yeah, you did it!"

"(Yay!)" he squeaked.

That was it? He couldn't even control his own power at will? And they were really serious about this battle?

Oh boy.

"Cyndaquil, use Ember!"

So when the little balls of fire came out of his mouth I didn't hesitate to throw some leaves at them. It was the best the way to judge how powerful he was. From what I'd seen, the leaves should easily draw even.

The attacks collided with the leaves catching every single ember. Not only that, but there were enough left to shower my surprised adversary. He tried to duck, but was still hit by several of them.

"Cyndaquil!" His owner along with the rest of them were gaping in shock. He turned to the shiny eyed one asking, "But- but how?! Fire beats Grass, right?!"

"I-I d-don't know. It shouldn't have happened," he said while moving the shiny things on his face, "In fact it should be next to impossible."

That was me all right. I made the impossible possible. I was smiling now, and I knew this thing was almost over.

That boy turned back to the battle and stared at me uncertainly. He called out to his Pokémon, "Cyndaquil! C'mon! Don't worry, I know what to do!"

The battered companion struggled to his feet to once again assume his little battle stance, relighting the fire on his back. He squeaked out that he was okay and ready to go. Wow, the leaves did that much damage? Boy, this kid must be weak.

"That's good. Use Smoke Screen, Cyndaquil!"

Smoke Screen?

"(I'll show you!)" he cried.

Whoa, what was this?! There was smoke everywhere. I was coughing so much and I couldn't see hardly anything ahead of me. Was this like the nasty stuff Houndour use?

"Cyndaquil, Tackle!"

Where was he? I couldn't tell.

"(Whoa!)" I oomphed as I was hit by the attack, while getting knocked backwards a bit. I struggled to look around, but luckily the smoke started to clear.

"Yeah, we did it! Now all we need is another good hit!"

"(Yeah!)"

That was it. Now I was irked. I stood up straight and smiled, and not a happy smile, mind you. I threw out my vines as quickly as possible and wrapped the rodent up, while being careful of his back. I called out "(Enjoy the trip!)" With that I promptly tossed him as far as I could throw.

"Cynnnnnnndddddddddddddddaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"Cyndaquil!" Shaggy Hair cried.

Have you ever seen a Cyndaquil fly?

Shaggy Hair, as I was now calling him, ran after him. From the look on his face as he dropped to his knees at the landing site, I knew it was officially game over. The other two were now gaping at me as if I was a freak, but I liked to take it as a compliment to my skills.

Shiny Eyes, that was now my nickname for him as well, finally closed his mouth and called out to Shaggy Hair, "Is it okay?!"

"Yeah, I think! It's just knocked out." He didn't even turn around as he said this.

"Do you think it needs a potion?" That came from the girl, who until now hadn't said anything. She looked weird though. Her reddish brown -- I couldn't decide which -- hair was divided in half on each side of her head, and it was tied in knots too. Unlike the boys she didn't have a top and a bottom. Most of her body was covered in red and a little at the top was white.

"I don't know." He pulled out the ball and uttered, "Return."

Then he said to his friends, "Guys, you've got to get it," with a very desperate tone.

"Right," agreed Knotted Hair. I had to give her a name too.

"I know," Shiny Eyes nodded and brought out a ball of his own. "This Chikorita is not only rare but incredible. We'd be fools to let it get away." He smiled as he said this.

I stared at him, something telling me that the next battle wouldn't be so easy.

"Go, Pinsir!" he yelled as he released the ugly Stag Beetle.

This time I knew what I was dealing with, and I knew it wasn't good. Pinsir are nasty to battle against and they were one of the reasons I left the last place. They'll go after you in a second if you annoy them in any way. Add that to the fact that when seeing you annoys them... Well they were annoying themselves, to put it simply. I knew this was going to be tough. I had to think on my feet.

"ViceGrip," he said with a completely calm tone.

"(You're mine.)"

Pinsir leapt off the ground in a flash, its huge horns rapidly coming at me. I tried to dodge, but it was faster than I thought. It made a quick turn to change its position and it was on me before I knew it.

"(Oomph!)"

I was thrown against its head with the pincers closing around me. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe, and I couldn't think because I could only feel pain. The pain. It was crushing me.

"Chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiikkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk aaaa aaaaaaaaa!"

I had to make it stop. I just had to make it stop. I lashed out with my vines, but they didn't affect it in the least. I kept hitting though, until I got to its one weak spot; its eyes.

"(Ahh! Why you!)"

It dropped me. I could breathe again. It was pure relief.

"Bind."

I couldn't move fast enough since I was still gasping, so I was snatched into its horns... again. "(You-you enjoy this, don't you?)" I hissed through my teeth.

It would have smiled, I think, that is if a Pinsir could smile. "(It'll soon be over.)"

Its pincer like horns were wrapped around me, squeezing tightly. It wasn't as bad as before, but I was still stuck. Worse, it had closed its eyes to make it harder for me to get to them.

"Seismic Toss."

That didn't sound good.

"(Whoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!)" It jumped high into the air, and the wind was burning against my eyes. We kept going, and then we were spinning. I didn't know which way was up, down, left, or right. Blurry swirling colors were everywhere. I didn't like this. I did not like this!

I was falling, hurtling toward the ground. It was so quick. Too fast for me to keep up.

"(Ack!)" I yelped when my vines caught on something. Then I was swinging by them up into the air. Oh yeah, I remembered that I was still holding on to it. I caught it by surprise, and so we were now both circling above the earth. Until I hit the dirt with a thud.

"Chika!" I yiped.

"Pinsir!"

Everything was still spinning, and that rough landing didn't help. At least I was out of its clutches though.

"What- what happened? How did it beat Seismic Toss?! That was my plan! A-and Bug is stronger than Grass!" He sounded as if he was at a total loss.

Despite the fact that it felt like the ground was still moving by itself, I forced myself to my feet. I felt completely sore too, though hitting the Earth like a rock could do that to you. I heard a noise and there was my nemesis a few feet away already standing up. Oh no, I had to get out of range! I wouldn't let it touch me again, not if I wanted to win this.

"(You'll pay!)" it raged while leaping in my direction for its next attack.

Once more I ducked away from it, but this time it actually worked. I dodged its horns and ran behind it. It couldn't keep up with me. It tried to turn itself around and come at me from its left, but I jumped away faster. It threw itself at me and I ran out of the way. It seemed as though it had gotten slower... Yes, that was it!

As it started to rise I threw my right vine around its front claws. That threw off its balance, causing it to collapse back to the dirt. It rolled on its back trying desperately to get free, but I was ready. This was the perfect moment, and I threw my other vine around its feet. Now it was tied up. Screaming and ranting did it no good. No matter how many times it twisted or turned, it wouldn't work. It was mine now. And I began tossing some leaves at it. All I had to do to win this was to wait as long as possible.

"Pinsir!" cried Shiny Eyes who was panicking by now . "Break free!" he yelled. When that didn't work he ordered, "ViceGrip!"

Nope, nothing doing. I saw Pinsir trying to twist around to get me, but without using its arms and legs, that was almost impossible. Though the problem was I knew this couldn't last. My grip was slowly loosening.

"Pinsir!" Shiny Eyes cried again.

If I could just hold him long enough... I knew I could win this.

Pinsir jerked and caught my vines in an awkward position. It was all it needed. That one moment allowed it to pull its claws loose before I could do anything. Then it swiped at the vine on its legs, but I brought it back just in time. It leapt to its feet ready to face me again. Now it was time to see how this battle will end.

Shiny Eyes must have been overjoyed. He responded by quickly calling out, "ViceGrip!"

Pinsir began to attack again. It started to run straight toward me. And I.... simply stood there.

In fact, I continued to stand there waiting. Pinsir's running was really more of a slow motion jog by now, so when it finally got there I ran some distance away. It tried follow to me, but watching its sad attempt to chase me left me bored. I decided to run circles around it, literally. "(I thought I was going to pay, remember?)" I called out. There was nothing wrong with enjoying it. I loved winning battles.

"What's wrong with it? Why is it going so slow? What's going on?" Shaggy Hair was asking Shiny Eyes, who looked despondently at the ground.

He muttered, "When Pinsir get cold they lose their speed. The colder it is, the slower they are. That's the way it works."

"B-but?! Why did you send it out then?!"

"Because it has a type advantage, and it was supposed to beat that, that, that thing before it got too cold! But it didn't, because that thing is a freak! That's why!" he snapped.

If he wasn't whining because I kicked his butt, I'd actually feel insulted.

"What do we do?!" asked Shaggy Hair frustratedly.

"I don't know!" Shiny Eyes yelled, then he turned to Pinsir and groaned, "Return." The bug disappeared in a flash of light officially showing that I had won.

"Hey guys!" That was Knotted Hair. "I'm next, remember?"

"So what are you going to do?" Shaggy Hair was curious.

"Use brute strength."

"Oh really?" Shiny Eyes questioned.

She turned to them and smiled, "Well, using type advantages hasn't worked, so why not?"

She pulled out a ball of her own and tossed it. "Come on out, Tauros!"

What materialized in from of me was this huge bull. He was light brown with a darker brown mane, and three swirling tails with tufts of the same color. His head had three silver disks on it. But more importantly, he had these nasty, sharp looking horns of the same color right above them.

"Mooooooo!" he bellowed.

Hmm... Now I needed a strategy for this. I wondered what his weak point was.

"Tauros, Horn Attack!"

So I guess he did what came naturally and charged. I had to think of something quick. I threw leaves at him, and... he continued to charge as if it didn't happen. I whipped him with my vines, and it did nothing too. Uh oh. I knew it was time to get this battle moving before he tried to flatten me, so I decided a change was needed. I took off running in the other direction.

What? I wasn't stupid enough to stay.

"Hey, look! See guys! Its running away!" said Knotted Hair with joy.

Why that - ! What does - ? I was not running away! I didn't run away from any battle! I was just looking for a change in scenery and time to think rather than stand there and be run over.

Looking ahead I saw the end of the meadow coming up. From there it dropped off a cliff and into a river, but before that the grass ended, turning into a dry rocky place with boulders. Bingo.

I let Tauros gain on me until I could feel the hot breath coming from his mouth. I knew he was about to gore me, so I executed my plan. I ducked behind one of the nearest boulders, and soon after heard a loud crash.

He was simply too large to turn fast enough when he was running. I had him now. I jumped up to the top of the rock to see what to do next.

Yet he was still standing?! What? He just shook it off as if it was nothing. His eyes narrowed on me, while snorting and pawing the ground. He then ran a little bit away before he turned around and began charging again.

I had to stop him somehow. I threw out my vines and wrapped them around his horns. I attempted to get him off balance, but it didn't work. He got too close for comfort, so I started to run, but I couldn't get vines unwrapped fast enough. He then tossed his head which pulled them against his horns wrapping them tighter. I couldn't get loose! I felt myself all of a sudden get yanked off my feet.

"(Whoa!)" I was being dragged!

Dirt was flying everywhere, yet I could just make him out running in front of me. I saw he was trying to figure out a way to get the vines off his head. Then his front leg got caught in one of the vines and his other leg came in front of it, twisting the vines against each other and his legs. He fell forward, skidding on his knees, before eventually smashing his shoulder into one of the rocks.

"Mooooooo!" I heard him bellow again, but this time it was in agony. My ride had finally came to a stop. I coughed a little of the dirt out of my mouth and got to my feet. It all seemed to happen so slowly, but in reality it happened very fast. I looked at him; he was struggling, trying his best to get up, yet he couldn't. His right shoulder looked as though it wouldn't support the weight. Soon he realized this too and sunk back down to the ground.

"Tauros!" I turned my head to the voice. I saw the humans running over here; I guess it took them that long to catch up. Knotted Hair looked really upset as she brought out a ball and softly uttered, "Return." With that action, the wounded bull disappeared back into the ball from whence it came.

I looked at them. It was over; it was finally over. I'd beaten their Pokémon and won the right for them to leave me alone. They woke me up from such a nice dream too. Normally I loved nothing more than winning battles, and while I enjoyed my victory, more than anything right now I felt annoyed. They were all glaring at me by now anyway, and I didn't need to put up with them. I tossed my head at them, held myself up straight, and muttered, "(Serves you right.)" I began to walk away since it was time to go looking for food.

"No, no, no!" I looked back though, Shaggy Hair had started smashing his fist into the ground over and over. "It can't end like this! We can't let a Chikorita beat us!"

"I know. I despise the thought of that thing going back to the forest laughing at us."

'That Thing' seemed to have become my nickname for Shiny Eyes.

"Hey, guys? I know it may not be a good idea, but I wanted to let you know I brought Flare with us. I got it from my cousin in case we needed it," Knotted Hair muttered looking down at her feet.

Shaggy Hair was shocked. "You brought Flare with you?! But you haven't ever trained it! How do you know if it'll listen?"

"I don't know if it'll work, but I say it's worth a try."

"Okay!"

"Yeah!"

I saw her reach for another Pokeball. This was not fair! I'd already beaten them, so why couldn't they give up already?!

My newest opponent materialized in front of me soon enough. It was huge, bigger even than Tauros, and it looked familiar. That was when I realized I was looking at a monster Growlithe, not like a regular one, but one three times its normal size. It was hairier, had more stripes, and much bigger teeth too. I didn't know what I should do next. Where the heck did they find this thing?!

"(You should give up.)" The deep voice came from its large mouth. What bugged me about it was that it wasn't arrogant, confident, or mean, but that it just had a matter-of-fact tone to it, like what you would tell a friend when you were trying to give them advice. It didn't matter how it sounded, though, because it annoyed me to no end.

"(What are you talking about?! I don't give up! I keep fighting until I kick whoever's butt I'm facing! Including yours!)" I yelled back.

"(I'm just saying-)" it started to say.

But I interrupted. "(I don't care!)"

It looked at me then with a strange look on its face, as if it was smiling at me, but its eyes were sad, maybe kind of sympathetic in a way. "(You're stubborn,)" it mused.

"(I know,)" I smirked.

Then we heard something from the humans about an attack and brought our attention back to them.

"I don't know which attack I should use."

"Here I know," said Shaggy Hair and he pulled a red thing from his back pocket to show her, "it's all listed right here."

"Oh, thanks. Hmm... I know. I'll use that one!"

I couldn't help but wonder what 'that one' was.

"Flare, Fire Blast!"

A feeling of dread settled upon me, maybe like a premonition. I knew that a voice was screaming inside me saying that I did not want to be caught in this. I could feel the air around me heat up, and I knew I had to get out of there. I began running as fast I could trying to put some distance between my self and the attack.

Before I knew it, the largest, most spectacular fire attack I had ever seen was streaming across everything. I had just managed to get out of range, but I could almost feel the power coming from it because it looked that strong. It was shaped like some kind of star, and it had the ability to melt boulders while scorching the earth. When it ended; there wasn't much left. Only melted rock, sizzling dirt, and smoke. I gulped. How was I going to beat an attack like that?

I decided to throw out my trump card. I sent my vines straight for the spot between its eyes. The monster Growlithe dodged it like it was nothing. The speed it had, it was just incredible. What could I do next?

"Flare, Extreme Speed!"

It disappeared. Where did it go? It couldn't have just disappeared into thin air. I looked everywhere, but it was no where to be seen. How did it do that?

"Chika!" I screamed. Something had rammed into me and I felt fuzziness next to me for just a brief second. Then I was flying. "(Whhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!)"

I slammed into one of the boulders, and everything became blurry. I couldn't breathe because I was in total shock.

"Now you got it, Flare, Flamethrower!"

I- What was that? I didn't know. Wait, fire?

I was soon engulfed in the flames, there was pain and heat everywhere. It hurt so bad... but I couldn't get away. I could feel my skin searing, my flesh burning, and it didn't stop. There was no way out. Please, let it be over, just make it stop...

I think it did? Did it? The heat was gone, but it still hurts.

"(I told you, you should give up.)" A voice floated in my head, and it was familiar too. I forced my eyes open, all I saw was wavy colors, but among them swirling in the middle was orange.

By this point I had found more of my voice and my vision was beginning to clear. Everything else still hurt like heck though. "(Y-you th-think I wa-nt it easy?! I want it my way!)"

"(Why?)" it sounded curious.

"(Because!)" I countered.

"(But that's it?)" It seemed disappointed with my answer.

"(Why not?)" I asked. Wasn't that enough?

"(I gave up,)" it admitted.

I went silent at that. I understood. I got it now. This, this Pokémon, so much must have happened to it that it stopped fighting. It just gave up and went along with whatever happened after that because it didn't care anymore. It couldn't win against them, so it had lost its fighting spirit.

I gulped. I couldn't let that happen to me! I wouldn't let that happen to me!

"(But, you can't just give up!)"

I was interrupted then by a squeal.

"It hasn't gotten up," said Shaggy Hair.

"Think that's it?" Shiny Eyes asked.

"Yeah, we got it! Now all we have to do is catch it! I've got a ball I shined for it too!" Knotted Hair continued to squeal.

Ball?

I heard her yell, "Go Pokeball!" I turned my head just in time to see one of the cursed balls coming at me. I call it cursed because once it touches you, you got sucked in and your only chance is to fight your way out before you're stuck. You become theirs then.

I wouldn't let it happen. I couldn't let it happen. I wouldn't let them take me! I wouldn't let them!

If I became the first to beat a cursed ball then so be it.

I had risen enough to sit, despite my pain and exhaustion. In one vague last attempt I tossed the leaf on my head around. I felt the strike against it and hit back as hard as I could. I closed my eyes and waited. Then I waited some more. I finally reopened them in time to see the ball skidding across the ground in front of me. It rolled out in front of the humans and that was it.

"(I'm sorry)" said the Pokémon. Before it could hit me, I looked into its eyes and I found it truly was sad about doing this. I forgave it too. It was simply following orders; orders that were to win and even without them a battle isn't over 'til it's over. I understood going for the knock out hit. That was a fact I knew all too well.

Then I felt the wind being knocked out of me as it hit me.

I rolled over to the edge of the cliff. Whatever strength I had regained from before was lost by the blow. I felt myself slipping, sliding off the edge as the dirt was crumbling beneath me. There was nothing I could do about it, and I wasn't sure I cared either.

One of the humans must have realized my predicament, though. I heard Shaggy Hair yell, "Flare, don't let it go over!"

I saw it try to get there in time. When it did, however, the ledge gave way from its weight. It had to jump back to keep from going over, itself.

I felt myself fall. The wind rushed beneath me as I was weightless. My only thoughts at a time like this were strange though. "Is this what it feels like to fly?" I was thinking back to what I'd done earlier. It was ironic; poetic justice, I suppose.

I hit the water. Hard.

It hurt badly. The water did not feel soothing in the least, as it only made my wounds burn more. I felt myself drifting in the current. Between my injuries, and the fact that I didn't have the energy, I couldn't swim. I was being pulled faster and faster to who knows where.

No one was coming to save me. Because I was alone, just like I had always been.

I think your story is marvelous. I loved this past chapter. I commend your ability to pay attention to the very details that make up Chikorita's personality. She responds to her environment extremely well and I'm not left wondering what she thinks about the actions of those around her. I like that I don't have to wonder because it really feels like I have a connection with Chikorita. I can't wait to see her run through all her thought processes when Ash comes into the picture. You've set up this story really well for their meeting and I can feel Chikorita's pain and loneliness soooo much better than I did from watching the animé alone. I only see more greatness in this fic's future. ^^

I encourage everyone else reading to post and tell Yoshi-kun what you think of their story. As an author here myself, I know how nice it is to receive any kind of feedback. It's a great motivator.

I think your story is marvelous. I loved this past chapter. I commend your ability to pay attention to the very details that make up Chikorita's personality. She responds to her environment extremely well and I'm not left wondering what she thinks about the actions of those around her. I like that I don't have to wonder because it really feels like I have a connection with Chikorita. I can't wait to see her run through all her thought processes when Ash comes into the picture. You've set up this story really well for their meeting and I can feel Chikorita's pain and loneliness soooo much better than I did from watching the animé alone. I only see more greatness in this fic's future. ^^

I'm glad that you think so. And thank you so much, you know that I've put a lot of effort into writing this. ^ ^ It's nice to know that you can picture it so well too.

I encourage everyone else reading to post and tell Yoshi-kun what you think of their story. As an author here myself, I know how nice it is to receive any kind of feedback. It's a great motivator.

I have, but I wanted to wait until after I finished it before I put it on FF. It's not as easy to edit there. So I wanted the kinks worked out first. As for the Pokemon Tower I don't know how it works because I've never posted anything there before. ^ ^; But that is a good idea. I'm starting to consider doing it a lot sooner now.

Great to see that you have chapter two up. The fic sounds very promising. I love the tough cookie attitude you gave to sweet little Chikorita and her sense of independence. The detail here is excellent. The spacing is good, so it is easy to read and everything is great so far.

Over the next week I ate my fill of flowers and sunbathed to my heart's content. The Ekans didn't bother me, since it had only taken one battle with them to set things straight. Word spread about that, and they pretty much ignored me.

I had to admit though, there was a downside. For one, it could get quite cold at night. Actually though, it wasn't exactly that warm during the day due to it being closer to the mountains. Luckily I had learned to deal with that kind of situation over the years by sunbathing for long periods of time.

Another thing was that I was out in the open without cover when I slept, though that didn't faze me a lot since I had been forced to do it plenty of times before. Still, I couldn't help but not like it. Not knowing what was going on when I was asleep out there wasn't comforting, so I chose to do a lot of my sleeping while I sunbathed in the day. Other than these things though, the meadow had been the best place I'd been to so far.

Today hadn't been any different. I had found some sweet blossoms to eat this morning. Now all I wanted to do was find a nice spot to stretch out in the sun. Once I found a soft area, I snuggled into the blades of grass, letting the sun's rays fully cover me. It felt like pure bliss. Soon the drowsiness overcame me as I felt myself slip into a deep sleep.

Yet even as I closed my eyes I felt a nagging feeling that was trying to tell me something, but I didn't know what. It didn't matter anyway. As soon as I had considered the thought in my mind, I had begun crossing the threshold into unconsciousness.

This part for example, we really get chikorita's thoughs and feelings here.

Great to see that you have chapter two up. The fic sounds very promising. I love the tough cookie attitude you gave to sweet little Chikorita and her sense of independence. The detail here is excellent. The spacing is good, so it is easy to read and everything is great so far.

This part for example, we really get chikorita's thoughs and feelings here.

Thank you. I'm glad you think things are going well, and you think Chikorita's in character.

It was bright, so bright. There was light everywhere, and the harshness of it burned my eyes.

I clamped my eyelids back tightly shut against the brilliant white. What happened? Before, it was dark, calm, and quiet, but now it was bright, different and scary. What was this? Where was I?

"Hello little one."

What was that? That voice... it sounded like a melody, almost like a song that was being sung only for me to hear.

"Come on, open your eyes."

No, I couldn't. It hurt. I felt so afraid, what if it hurt more? But that voice sounded so calm and reassuring. It felt like everything was going to be okay if I listened.

"I know you can do it."

The voice... it believed in me. It was so persuading that I couldn't refuse.

I opened my eyes again. The harsh light didn't feel so bad this time, and there were colors everywhere. What? Then another color appeared in front of me. I found the warmest yellow eyes staring right back into mine. They seemed to contain so much unspoken emotion, and they were so familiar.

"(Welcome to your new home, sweetheart.)"

---

I ran around in the bright green grass soaking up every bit of sun I could. This place, that felt so scary at first, now was so much fun. I definitely preferred this to wherever I was before.

I was told the area I was in now was called a meadow. It was full of this soft grass, and it had more colorful plants known as flowers scattered around too. They smelled wonderful when you got close enough to them. Plus when it got too hot you could go over to the edge of the meadow where the... the... the forest was. Yeah, I think it was called a forest. Anyway there were these huge plants named trees, bigger than any grass, that made the forest a forest. Trees were so big they made sha-sha-shadows so you could get cool.

The really neat thing though was when you looked up, there was the sky. It was blue, and in the middle of it was that big burning ball the sun. The sun was what made everything warm, I think, since when it went away for the moon to show up it got colder. The moon didn't make things warm, it was just a silver circle that gave light so it wouldn't be totally dark when the sun set. Though, I had heard there were times it didn't show up like it should. Did that mean every so often the earth would be submerged in blackness? I shuddered. I could only hope it wasn't true.

The best part about the world though were the Pokémon. They were the things that lived here, like me. I was a Pokémon, and there were lots of others besides me, which I thought was pretty great because if I was the only one here then I think it would get pretty boring.

So far I had met the purple Rattata, that were known as really fast runners, and the brown Pidgey, who could fly. I thought the flying was awesome, that meant you didn't have to stare at the sky, but you go up in it. You could go wherever you wanted, basically. I wondered what it would be like to touch the sky.

My favorite thing to do during the day was play with the other Pokémon. At first I didn't get why they would run away when I chased them, but then I found out they were scared. Why were they scared? I didn't get it. I didn't think there was anything scary about me. Still, every time I tried to play they would run matter what I said. Eventually I just decided to make a game out of it. They would run, and I would chase. I hadn't caught one yet, but I knew I was going to soon. If I could just get my vines to work I would win no problem.

Today was no exception.

I chased Rattata and scared Pidgey left and right. It was such a thrill, and I loved every minute of it.

Stopping for a moment to look around, I spotted a Rattata nearby. Today was the day I would get my vines to work like I wanted them to. I just knew it. In fact I could feel it. Tensing up I finally forced one of them to come out, which was tough because they always acted like they'd rather stay inside me when I needed them. I brought it into position...

TWACK!

and I missed the purple rodent who was now running into the distance by a good seven feet.

Okay, so maybe I wouldn't get it on my first try.

I glanced across the meadow for what would be my next attempt.

"Towl!"

Huh? What was that? I turned and saw a strange looking Pidgey coming really close over head. This one was a lot bigger than any Pidgey I'd ever seen, and a darker brown too. It also had these creepy big eyes. Weird. I guess there were different kinds of Pidgey.

Why was it circling up there?

It wasn't flying away like the other Pidgey did either. Hey, I think it's looking at me. I wonder... it's like... it's not scared of me like the others. Then I realized as it swooped over me again even lower, that it wasn't afraid. It wasn't scared of me! I think... I think maybe it wants to chase me. Does that mean what I think it could? That for once I would be the one being chased instead of the chaser?

Feeling the wind rush over me as it flew just feet above me, I had my answer.
I got it. It must want to play too.

So I started running, and it must have noticed it since it was flying right toward me now. There was no way I was gonna lose and let it catch me.

But it was faster than I thought.

"(Whoa!)"

I barely had the time to duck as it swooped over, barely missing me. I gotta be more careful. I couldn't just let it get me.

I'm better at this than that!

I decided to run toward the trees. That way it would lose its advantage. Once I got to trees there was no way it could follow. It would be game, set, and match.

"Towl!"

So close... almost there... It was getting closer and closer. I just needed a few more steps...

"(Ahh!)"

Too late.

All of a sudden I was up in the air. Wait what? I was in the air? Was this real? I was in the sky? I found out pretty quickly that I had been picked up by its claws, and we were flying- ow! It was digging them in! Why? I yelled at it to stop, but it just stared back. I knew from the look in its eyes that it was doing it on purpose. That was not fair.

What was it doing? Why was it doing this? I bit my lip against the pain. I looked down to see the earth get smaller and smaller, and had a very bad feeling about this. Something inside me started screaming for me to do something. It must have felt me move, because it was then it tightened its grip even more.

Gulping, it dawned on me that it had never wanted to play in the first place, and maybe this was why the Rattata and other Pidgey were scared.

With that I came to one conclusion, that I wanted down from this ride, and I wanted down now! This wasn't flying, this was taking, and I wasn't gonna let myself get taken wherever by the mean old freak of a Pidgey.

Struggling within myself again, I managed to bring out one of my vines. I could only hope I could control it this time. If it failed me now...

I tried to hit it as hard as I could, and to my surprise it did. It did! I got it to work! It didn't drop me though, instead it dug in its claws even deeper. I gasped in pain. I hit it and hit it, but didn't even seem to faze it at all. What was I going to do? I just wanted this to stop now. Help! Someone help me!

And then.. and then... and then it happened. My other vine flew out hitting it on the cheek.

I gawked. Both of my vines were out at the same time! I actually did that!

"Towl!" it hissed. Eep, now wasn't the time to celebrate.

Frantically I threw the vines at its head. Hey! I... hit its eye.

"(Aaah!)"

Now we were falling! I gulped. I made things worse!

The trees just below were coming much too fast, we were going to hit. Ack! Those things are so hard too... oh man, we'll end up flat as leafs. I could only close my eyes and hope to wake up from this nightmare.

"(Wake up. Come on. Please wake up.)"

It didn't work.

Branches were whipping me all over. Even so I repeated the chant as we tore through the trees. I just wished once more that this would end-

"Towl!"

"(oomph.)"

-and then my wish came true.

Something around me hit it knocking us and... It dropped me.

I only had time to scream for a second before I hit the ground rolling. The world seemed to be spinning, then it stopped. At least the rolling did, my eyes didn't get the message with the spinning. I could still feel and move everything though. I guess despite being thrown I wasn't that badly hurt.

I really did not like that Pidgey. Wait, the Pidgey!

Frantically I got up, gazing around everywhere for it. I glanced up, and to my left and right, but it was nowhere to be seen.

"Tooowl!"

That was behind me!

I turned toward the sound, and there it was circling around the nearest tree. As its eyes bore directly into mine I saw its claws outstretched for me. This was it.

Gasping as I saw it again, my body went numb. I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I could only stare at the scene unfolding in front of me.

My mind finally began yelling at me. It's coming back! It's coming back! Do something! I tried desperately to move. I didn't want it to get me again. But how could I stop it? What could I do?

Unfortunately I found the only thing I could do was scream.

"(Help!)"

"(Stay away from her!)"

I saw big green vines come out of nowhere to hit it away at the last second. My mouth gaped open at the turn of events. The Pidgey didn't know what was going on either. Stunned it tried to fly away as fast as it could, but then leaves started hitting it, knocking it this way and that. I realized that must be how it dropped me. Finally after a few seconds of the barrage I saw it struggle to disappear in the distance.

"(Are you okay?)"

Looking to my right I saw the green figure rapidly approaching. Before I knew it I was being nuzzled by a warm cheek and smelling a sweet scent drift up my nose. Yet I didn't find this entirely comforting, as the memory of what had just happened was still raw, though I answered, "(Yeah, I'm okay.)"

"(I was so worried about you.)" Her melodic voice being filled with such emotion was a change. Normally it was happy, yet now it was so sad, and scared all at the same time.

"(I'm sorry,)" I apologized. I couldn't think of anything else say.

"(It's okay.) She continued to nuzzle me repeating the phrase over and over.
I didn't say anything. All I could do was replay what happened in my head constantly. What had happened anyway? I wanted to know, but I wasn't sure how to begin. Finally though I had to ask, "(What was that?)"

She stopped coddling me and sighed, "(That was a Noctowl.)"

"(I don't like them very much.) I stated the obvious. Why should I? Though at least now I knew what it was.

"(I know,)" she agreed.

"(Why did it try to hurt me?)" That had been the question bothering me since the beginning.

She looked away with some untold emotion in her eyes, and I didn't know why. It seemed like my question had bothered her and she began carefully, "(Because some Pokémon just do. They hunt, uh... hurt other Pokémon because of how they are. Because that is how they were born, just like we are what we are because of how we were born. We eat grasses, leaves, and fruits, and such things so... we don't have have to hurt others. But those Pokémon that do not... well then they aren't as nice, and sometimes try to hurt the other Pokémon.)"

"(Oh.)" I answered. My depth of curiosity about the current topic hadn't ended there however. "(So all the Pokémon like us are nice?)"

That didn't seem to help her mood either. She sighed and looked away, "(No, not exactly. Some of them are, and some of them aren't. It depends...)" She bit her lip, but then she smiled at me. "(One day though, I'm sure you'll meet a nice Pokémon you can spend lots of time playing with. I know you like to play. Isn't that right?)"

"(Yeah!)" She always knew how to do that, how to make it all better no matter what it was. The previous fears I held had since abated due to my new prospects.

"(Well come on then, we need to start searching for a place to spend the night.)" She started walking away, and her mood looked like it had lifted too.

I began to prance after her... when suddenly I heard a noise. Quickly glancing back, and to my relief, I saw it was only a Pidgey, a real one this time. Though that brought back the previous encounter to my mind. "(Um, you don't think that No- Noc- that thing will come back do you?)"

To my surprise she smiled. "(You don't have to worry about that.)"

"(I don't?)" I queried.

"(No, and do you know why?)"

"(Un-uh)" I shook my head.

"(Because I'll always try my best to protect you.)" After saying that she lovingly nuzzled her cheek next to mine again. Her voice... it was so soft, and yet so serious at the same time.

And I looked deep into her yellow eyes and knew she was telling the truth.

"(I love you, Mommy,)" I said with most love with and gratitude I could muster.

"(I love you too honey.)"

---

I snuggled next to my mom in the small little cave we were staying in. Well not that my mom was small... but it could barely fit the both of us.
Not that I minded, I liked getting up next to her leaves, or the flower things on her neck and curling up in them. They were so soft and comfy, plus they smelled so nice. Soon enough I felt myself getting sleepy, but I wasn't worried. Like my mom said I had nothing really to worry about right?

By now she was completely awake and listening intently. Once again the eerie howl rang out in the darkness, but even in the dim light I felt her tense up and could just barely see her eyes narrow. I waited tensely for what was she going to do. What was going on? But then after it cut through the silence once more... she relaxed. Why? Why would she relax with a sound like that happening out there?

She turned to me. "(It's a Houndour,)" she stated simply.

"(What's that?)"

"(A Pokémon you wouldn't want to run into. But it's okay right now. That one is just calling out to his pack from what I can tell,)" she said with a matter of fact tone.

I got interested. "(What's a pack?)"

She thought about it for a moment then said, "(They're like his friends.)"

"(His friends?)"

"(Hm mmm.)" She nodded.

"(So... he's calling out to his friends?)"

"(Yes, that would be right,)" she affirmed.

"(But why is he calling out to them?)" I was full of questions.

"(My guess would be that it's because he's alone.)"

"(He's alone? Out there all by himself? No one?)" I gasped. Even before what happened today I couldn't imagine being by myself at night. I peered into the darkness, even with most of the moon shining it was kinda dark and spooky out there.

"(Yes he is, and that's why he's calling. He's letting them know where he is, and trying to find out where they are, so that they can find him or he them.)"

"(So he won't be alone anymore?)" That was kind of a question, and kind of a statement on my part. I felt kind of sorry for the Houndour being all alone out there looking for his friends.

"(Yeah, lets go back to sleep alright?)" she yawned.

I nodded, and pretty soon I could feel myself get drowsy again. His howls faded into the distance as time went on. Though just before I closed my eyes I heard some howling from off in another direction. I smiled, (I guess he found his friends.)

---

"Roooaaaar!"

I woke up at that. That didn't sound eerie. It sounded scary!

"(Shssh. It's okay. Just stay calm.)" My mother's normally soothing voice was anything but this time. Apparently she had been woken up as well.

"(W-what is that?)" I asked.

She was staring hard into the distance, and with her gaze never moving she said, "(That's a monster.)" She sounded like she was talking to herself, more than to me.

I gulped, "(What's a monster?)"

"Roooooooaaaaaaar!"

"(That.)" she confirmed and then added, "(The thing making that sound is a monster. They make that roaring sound because of what they are, and they are something you never want to find, or much less fight.)

"(What do we do?)" If these monsters were so terrible, then what were we gonna do?

Seeming to finally realize that she was scaring me, her voice took a softer tone. "(We stay here. It's way out there in the forest, and it can't find us in here. That's why I choose different places to sleep each night. It's almost dawn right now, and the monsters only go into the deeper parts of the forest at night anyway.)"

I wondered what that meant. "(Where do they go when it's not night?)"

"(They go up into the mountains and rocky places, and that's why you should never go there. Do you understand?)" she said looking at me sternly.

I nodded in agreement. "(Yes.)"

"(Good.)" She sighed. "(Lets wait for dawn and then get on the move hunting for breakfast.)"

I wasn't really thinking about food, however, I was too busy wondering about whatever was out there in the forest.

"(Do you think that's why Houndour wanted to find his friends?)"

She nodded instantly understanding what I said, "(Probably so.)"

---

A few weeks later I had mostly forgotten about the Noctowl, and I had mostly gotten used to the spooky noises the forest made at night. But that sound by the "monster" had yet to leave my mind. Although it was scary, it was at the same time a little interesting. I was curious. What were the monsters that made the noises? What made them so terrible? Why exactly? What made them different?

Mommy didn't seem thrilled by my questions. She thought it was odd, and that I should be glad that I don't know. She said some things are better off left alone.

Yet that didn't sate my thirst, I still wanted to know why.

Anyway we had gotten up for another morning feed today, but this time there were these nasty Mankey things eating all of the food in the trees.

"(Let go! I saw it first,)" I said with teeth gritted around a fruit.

"(No! It's mine!)" screeched the mean thingy.

The hardest part was that the Mankey didn't have to walk on four legs, and so they could use their front legs to grab stuff with. It made it tougher for me to pull, because it had a much better grip.

But I wouldn't give up. I wouldn't let it get that fruit.

"(Is there a problem?)" I perked up at my mom's voice. She had managed to ask that with such calmness, and I don't know how she did. Especially with all their screeching.

Thingy quickly dropped it and ran, but the others started screaming. My teeth ground against the jarring sound. I guess that was all mommy could take too since she started throwing leaves around everywhere.

"(You should know better!)"

And they left too, as they didn't like mommy's leaves. I giggled at the way they ran away, as if they were being chased by a monster itself. Yeah, mommy sure was good at things like that.

I saw her then pull out her vines to reach the fruits that were left in the higher parts of the tree. She did it with such a fluidness that I could only hope for. They wrapped around two fruits and swiftly pulled them down, dropping one before me and the other for herself. I quickly finished the one I already had gotten from that Thingy to start on the new one, and I enjoyed how yummy they were. However one thing bugged me though.

"(How do you get your vines to do that?)" I stopped eating long enough to ask.

"(What do you mean?)" she brought her attention from the fruit.

"(You know, the way you got your vines to go up there like that to get the food? How do you do that?)" I wanted to know the answer so badly. Even though I had tried and tried, I still couldn't control them. My vines had such a mind of their own.

"(I just did it, that's all. It's a feeling. Like second nature for me to control them like that.)" She smiled at me.

But that wasn't the answer I was looking for. "(Then why can't I do it?)"

She looked at me oddly. "(But you can. You have vines too remember? Just reach up there and grab it.)"

What was she talking about? My vines never did what I told them to, as they always went the wrong way at the last moment.

"(How? My vines don't listen. They do whatever they want,)" I pouted.

Her eyes flashed in understanding, and maybe now she figured out my plight. I waited for her to answer that. "(Well then maybe you should tell them what you want them to do.)"

"(Huh? What? But I do!)" I sputtered.

"(No you don't,)" she contradicted, "(I've seen you try before. You try to ask them, and then hope it'll work out. What you need to do is tell them what you want instead.)"

"(Tell them?)" I repeated.

"(Yep.)" And with that she returned to eating, but I wasn't any closer to figuring this out.

"(But how do I do that?)"

Bringing her attention away from her meal again she explained,"(Simple. See that fruit up there on the branch? I want you to concentrate really hard on getting it.)"

"(O-okay.)" So I stained hard enough to bring out my vines, and once they appeared I focused as much as I could on getting the pink round fruit. I threw them at it, but as soon as they got far enough out they began to veer in other directions, completely missing the fruit again. I grumbled in frustration.

"(No, you're doing it too fast. I said concentrate, and you can't do that if you whip them out there like that. Go slower, and focus only on the fruit,)" she directed me.

"(Oh, okay. I'll go slower,) I said as I tried again, slower this time. I really tried to get them up there by just concentrating on the fruit the whole time, and then I touched it. I gasped in surprise and joy, but I knew it wasn't over. Wrapping them around it I twisted it off by thinking about what I wanted them to do, and it was kind of easy now that I was concentrating like mommy said. Then I pulled and the fruit broke off, but I lost my focus at the sudden movement allowing it drop to the ground. Though I didn't care so much about that as I did about what I had done. I did it! I got my vines to listen to me!

Running over to where it lay I started eating my new prize. I only stopped long enough to smile at my mommy, and she smiled at me. "(See, I told you that you could do it.)"

My smile only widened, but I didn't say anything until I was done. I began thinking about what else I could do. Deciding not to let anything stop me, I asked something else I had wondered about. "(Mommy, how do you make those leaves come out of your flowers?)"

"(Leaves?)" she queried.

"(Yeah, you know the ones you throw?)"

She sputtered for a moment before she said, "(Oh well, that's just something I learned to do one day. I don't think you can do that though like I do, since it's just something you have to learn on your own. I'm sorry, but I can't teach you that.)"

"(Oh.)" I muttered disappointedly.

"(I'm sure you'll learn to do it someday though,)" she added assuredly.

"(Yeah!)" I yelled eagerly with my confidence renewed. I would do it too. Someday I was going to learn everything she could do.

But for now the newfound control of my vines was enough to excite me. Pretty soon I was running all over the place trying to grab anything I could. I was using them this way and that, and it became a new fun game until...

That Mean Thingy showed up out of nowhere and grabbed that fruit before I could. I thought they all left. Anyway that wouldn't work this time, because I was ready.

I threw my vines around it, and the struggle became a tug of war between us. He wouldn't let go and neither would I. If I wasn't so concerned with beating him I might have thought this was fun.

"(Let go!)" I growled.

"(Mine!)" it hissed,

"Aipom!"

Huh?

Next thing we knew, however, this strange purple Pokémon, that certainly wasn't a Rattata snatched it away. It kind of reminded me of the Mean Thingy, except it was nicer looking. And now it was balancing on its tail? That was a weird looking tail too. My curiosity was broken when it started laughing at us. The silly grin it had was really annoying, so I was ready to show it a thing or two.

"(No! Mine!)" But the Mean Thingy jumped for it first.

Though I did take time to wonder, is that all it ever says?

The Purple Smiler didn't have any problems jumping away with a back flip, and letting the Mean Thingy eat the dirt face first.

"(Ha ha ha! You can't catch me! You can't catch me! You can't catch me like that! Nope!)" it taunted doing a couple more flips to prove its point.

"(Hey!)" I yelled. "(Just who do you think you are anyway?! What do you think you're doing?!)" I was getting pretty fed up with this song and dance.

"(Me? I'm Aipom. Yes, I am,)" it giggled.

"(Yeah, but I want my fruit back!)" I demanded.

It laughed while performing a somersault,"(No way, this is too much fun!)"

"(Why you!)" I growled.

I had had it. Quickly I threw my vines at it to grab back the fruit, however it was too fast. It just kept dodging, jumping, and twirling out of the way. Darn it. I just had to catch it.

About this time the Mean Thingy got up and made another attempt to get it. And I wasn't the least bit surprised when Aipom jumped out of the way at the last second either. What was funny though, is that it had somersaulted away from a tree, causing the Mean Thingy to fly into it face first. I couldn't hold back my laughing. Despite the fact that I wanted to stop Aipom just as much, the idea of seeing the Mean Thingy get what it deserved was too funny.

Naturally I couldn't let it get away. So I stopped laughing and chased it like mad.

Father and father into the forest we ran, and I kept following it despite how acrobatic it was. There had to be a way to stop it.

CRASH!

Yet I stopped when I heard that. Quickly I ripped my head around looking everywhere for the source of the noise. Where did it come from?

BANG!

There it was again off in the distance! W-what was that?

WHACK!

I gulped. It seemed to be getting closer...

"(Ahh! Run away! It's bad!)" I was brought out of my daze by Aipom's screeching. It dropped the fruit as it ran off, but I didn't care anymore. I was just trying hard to force my own legs to move.

SNAP!

That did it. Now I was running as fast as I could back toward the field. I had get to get there... I just had to. "(Mommy!)

POP!

It was getting louder. "(MOMMY!)

CRACKLE!

"(Ahhhhhhh!)" I was scared. This was worse than the Noc- Noc- Noctowl! What was even worse than that was that I didn't know what it was. It was right on top of me. What was I gonna do?

WHOOSH!

Then I could see the field just within my sight. I was so close... But the ground shook throwing me off my feet.

This was it. I knew it was hopeless and my chance to flee was gone now.

Tears streamed down my face as I cried. "(HELP!)"

"(I'm coming!)" Mommy. I'd never thought her voice sounded so soothing to me as it did right then, and just because I heard her too.

Before I knew what was going on my mom had grabbed me with her vines and ran. At first I felt so relieved because she was there, but then I saw face. She looked terrified, so I got scared again too. I'd never seen her afraid like that. I knew it had to be something bad.

"(Mommy, what is it?)" I asked.

She barely took the time to answer, because she was still running as fast she could. "(I-I don't know.)"

"(You don't know?)" How could she not know? If she knew it was bad, she had to know why right? Mommy always knew everything.

"(I'm n-not sure just yet. We have to get away. We just have to,)" she panted panicky.

I gulped. Something was really wrong, and I didn't even know what.

WHAM!

Then more crashing noises happened right behind us. It was still that close after all that running?! What do we do now?!

All of a sudden she stopped near a thicket, setting me down. "(I want you to go in there and hide. No matter what you hear, don't come out. Promise me.)"

"(What?! B-but, Mommy, what about you?)" I cried. She couldn't be serious about this!

"(I'll go and try to head it off. That's why I want you to promise me, you won't come out. It might not find you if you stay in there.)" She turned her head back in the direction of the ever closer noises.

"(No! Don't leave me, Mommy! Don't leave me here all alone!)" I begged her. I couldn't let her go out there all by herself to face whatever it was, I just couldn't let that happen.

"(Don't worry, I'll try to come back as soon as possible. I'll come back. Just wait here, okay?)" She had tears in her eyes as she said this. Inside me there was this feeling telling me that something was wrong with the way she said that.

She jumped out of the bushes. I wanted to follow her so bad, but I couldn't. I just couldn't bring myself to go against her words. She had practically begged me to stay right now, and I couldn't seem to force myself to disobey her.

"Meganium!" I heard the bellow. I had never heard her yell like that before. It was like that was her battle cry. Then I listened as her footsteps faded into the distance. The only thing I heard after that was more crashing.

The crashing, smashing, and whamming went on and on, until all I heard was nothing. Complete and utter silence filled the air. The forest had gone completely quiet and that scared me even more. I waited and waited, yet nothing happened. I was curious to go out and look, but my mother's words held me there. I believed her. She would come back, and all I had to do was wait. Eventually though my eyes grew weary despite my worry, and I drifted off to sleep.

---

"Chirp chirp chirp."

I woke up slowly to sounds that were around me. I was hearing the Pidgey calling out like normal, and I wondered briefly what was going on. Why would I go to sleep in such an uncomfortable place? Then it hit me. All the memories I had came rushing back at full force. I desperately looked around everywhere, but I was the only one there. "(Mommy!)"

How long had I been asleep? If the forest was back to normal, then what was going on? This time I wouldn't wait. Despite her words I had to find her.

I ran around the entire area, but no matter where I looked she was nowhere to be found. I started to panic. "(Mommy! Mommy! Where are you?!)"

Nothing but silence answered my cries.

I continued searching until I just couldn't take it anymore, and I began to cry. What was I going to do?

Finally however an idea came to mind through the fear induced panic. Her scent! I could follow her scent!

Running back to the thicket I caught a whiff of her smell. Even now that was comforting. Now all I had to do was follow it.

So that's exactly what I did for a little while. Then I began noticing that the scenery of the forest had started to change drastically. Trees were broken and smashed into pieces everywhere. There were other broken things and debris all around. And the smell... it was like something had burned everything, because there was was still scent of smoke.

"(Mommy!)" I called out once more. This was not good. I did not like the idea of her scent being in a place like this one bit. My stomach felt like lead. I had really bad feelings about this.

And then...

A-and t-t-then...

I came to where her scent stopped.

My jaw dropped. Tears welled up in my eyes. I could not believe it.

Nothing.

There was nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

My mommy's scent had completely disappeared.

I gazed frantically in every direction, but it didn't matter. The only things out there were the remains of the forest and myself. Still I kept on, hoping, hoping against hope, that maybe I could find something, anything.

The rest of the day I searched, and when night came, for the first time I could remember I didn't sleep. I didn't want to. It was also when I learned that the rumors were true. For the first time ever I saw the moon not appear at night. Yet despite the all of the spooky forest noises, despite eeriness of this place, despite the complete darkness, I kept searching. What used to scare me didn't matter so much anymore, for I knew now there were far worse things to be afraid of. None of it mattered anymore really, except finding her. Dawn eventually brought some relief to the abyss, but I did not stop my quest, and even when it had been hours and hours I kept going. I didn't eat, and I only drank from a few scattered puddles that I'd find, because my thirst had made me force down the dirty water. I didn't stop for anything unless I had to. My mommy had promised me, she had promised me she would come back, and I held on to that. She wouldn't have just lied to me. Would she?

For three days I searched, all the while never giving up hope. Until... I eventually collapsed. I just couldn't take it any more, and my had body forced me to sleep to rejuvenate myself. However it stopped my misery only temporarily. Since when I woke up, it finally hit me that she wasn't there.

No matter how much I searched, she wouldn't be there. She really had simply disappeared.

My stomach dropped. I began to cry once more, as if I hadn't already done that so much during those past few days. With that horrible realization I left that place.

I went back to the more familiar parts of the forest, soothing my half starved hunger on some decent leaves and grass I'd found. I was in no mood to try to fight over any better food.

After that I wandered around in a daze, because nothing meant anything at this point. The bright wonderful place I'd remembered suddenly seemed so dull. What was the point? What was I supposed to do now? Just walk around looking for food and water everyday? That was it?

Night came, and it was all up to me to find a place to sleep. I knew mommy had said it was supposed to be important what I picked, but I didn't care. What would it really change? Did what I choose for one night really count anyway? How bad could it get? Who really cared about it? I certainly didn't.

So I snuggled up in a spot between a tree and a bush. For quite a while I couldn't sleep, so I just listened to the noises. Eventually I dosed off.

"Roooaaaar!"

And suddenly I was wide awake. That sound may not have bothered me when I was awake searching, but now was a different story. I was currently regretting my decision of where I chose, and quickly tried hiding in the bush. Which was a bad a idea... it was full of thorns. Ouch!

"Roooooooaaaar!"

Boy I hated that sound. At the moment I not only felt fear, but anger as well. In fact this rage had been dully simmering throughout the day.

"Roooaaaaaaaar!"

Would it just shut up already! If you're not going to come and do terrible things, then couldn't you let the rest of the world sleep rather than roaring all night? What was the big deal with the monsters anyway?

Then in a flash, I suddenly remembered.

"They go up into the mountains and rocky places,"

That's it! Maybe, maybe she fought a monster and ended up there! Or maybe not... But I didn't know, and I wouldn't until I found out for sure.

This was my only lead.

I started crawling out of those nasty thorns.

"Roooaaaar!"

On second thought maybe I'd better wait for daylight to see better.

---

I began my journey at dawn, though I couldn't say I was refreshed. Next time I would choose a better place to sleep, if only for comfort.

It didn't take that long to get to the foothills, but the closer I got to the mountains, the bigger they seemed to get. It took a whole week of walking and climbing just to get up to the rocky places, and when I finally got up there it was so strange and spooky. An eerie fog surrounded everything, which was dangerous since there were cliffs and pitfalls everywhere. Growling sounds came from off in the distance, and I thought I could make out something whooshing through the air above me every so often. I think this was worse than the last place I had stayed in. There was this odd smell too, and the whole place didn't look right. I wanted to look for mommy and get out of there. I didn't like the thought of her in a place like this at all.

Wandering down a narrow path, I rounded the bend and saw this strange white hard stuff. They were kind of like sticks, only they weren't, and there wasn't a tree anywhere near here. They were in the shape of something I thought, and even weirder was that it smelled like a Pokémon. There was this other smell around too, like copper... I began to have a really bad feeling about this. My instinct was telling me to run, and run now.

I listened.

Running as fast as I could in the other direction...

"Roooaaaar!"

That was above me! I looked just in time to see the shadow passing over me. It disappeared over the cliffs before I could get a good look at it. Was that a monster? Was this what I had heard? This was bad. I had to get out of here!

I kept running... and the ground disappeared.

Gasping I realized I had slipped over the edge of a ditch. There was nothing I could do now. Tumbling I hit rock after rock falling down the cliff, before it eventually stopped when I made it to the bottom.

The world was swirling, I hurt everywhere, and I hated every minute of it too. When the ground finally settled beneath me I groaned, trying to move. Everything seemed to still be working normally. I pulled myself to my feet, and found that luckily I was okay for the most part.

Hearing a noise I turned to my right. My eyes grew wide because there was one of the biggest things I had ever seen right in front of them.

It was huge! I had never thought of ever seeing anything like that. It was as big as a mountain, covered in green and black, and had these glowing yellow eyes.

"ROOOAAAAR!" it bellowed. I heard it again and again as it echoed around the canyon, making it seem even louder. There was a smashing sound as it walked. It was as if the rocks themselves were being crushed against its weight.

I gulped. What was I going to do? I couldn't escape in time, and there was nowhere to hide. Fear completely overtook me, for all I could do was stand there and tremble.

In my panicked state I barely noticed when I started forming this new energy from out of nowhere. My body told me to toss the leaf on my head, and when I did, leaves came out of it. I didn't know how this was happening, but I knew what I was doing somehow.

Yet it didn't change anything. The leaves meant nothing to the monster, bouncing off of it like raindrops on a leaf. It kept coming and was just a few feet away. This was it. There was no way out.

"(Mommy, please,)" I begged through my tears, "(where are you?)"

The water continued to pour out of my eyes, even though it would change nothing about the situation, just before it grabbed me. After my experience with the Noctowl, deep down I knew what was about to happen, but still this had to be some sort of nightmare I could wake up from, right?

I saw its mouth open...

"(No.)" I whispered.

---

The darkness was releasing its grip on me once more. I had to remember what was going on.

It returned in a flash.

The monster! The monster had me! I had to fight! It grabbed me, and I couldn't move, because it was sticky and - ow! Everything hurts. Darn it. If I move, it hurts, but it was all over me. I had to do something! I had to do- I had to- Hey wait? The monster wasn't supposed to be sticky, and gooey, and... have a smell. In fact it smells kind of like mud, and it feels like mud, and it is mud.

I'm in the mud? How'd I get here? And why does everything hurt like heck?

I opened my eyes. They hurt too at first before they focused, and it was dark. I guess it was night out. If it was night, then where was this then?

Slowly I got up, and began a coughing fit. Water drained from my mouth onto the ground. Water? How did- Oh the river next to me answered that question.

So I was in the river, but then how did that happen? What was going on?

Then like the river itself, it all came rushing back to me; the humans, the Pokémon, and the freaky Growlithe. Right. Got it. I nearly got caught, and that's how I fell into the river.

But then how did I get out? I didn't remember anyone helping me, and I didn't see any signs of anyone here, and of course there's no one here now. My answer came by looking closer at the shore, it became obvious that I washed up here.

So that's it, huh? I was saved by fate. Well, figures. It was not like I'd be saved by anything else, right?

Fate seemed to enjoy toying with my life. It always tried to taunt, terrorize, and challenge me to the point where I didn't think there was a way out anymore, and just when that door would close it would always open up another. The game would be over if I lost, so it just made sure I would able to keep playing at the end of the day.

Though on the other hand it always expected me to find the door on my own. I could have just sat back and let myself get caught, but I didn't. I guess that's why it gave me another shot.

It would be nice however if it threw me a flower every now and then. Playing games all the time tended to get old.

Realizing what I was thinking I snorted at such ideas. I should know better than that. Destiny was something shaped by what we did, said, and chose, and I had learned that fact very well. For if I accepted what was expected of me then I would have been roasted a long time ago.

Speaking of which maybe that's why I had that nightmare. I hadn't thought about any of that for so long, and who knew I still remembered that all so vividly? It was almost like living it twice. Meh, I could have done without that, since that first time was bad enough. Why would I want to experience that again? Especially the ending... I shuddered at that.

To this day I still remembered waking up in the valley where the monster was, and it was gone. That was it. It grabbed me, I passed out, and then when I woke up it was like it had never even happened. But I knew it had, for I could still smell it there, and smell its scent on me. So what really happened? I had never figured that one out. Did it just let me go? Did it think I wasn't good enough or something?

Sometimes we didn't get the answers we wanted, and I never went back to find out.

Why did I ever think she would be up on some rocky mountain to begin with? I sighed knowing the reason. Probably because I was desperate at the time, and I was way too naive back then.

You know, my mother was another thing I didn't want to think about. I could feel the anger and bitterness welling up inside me once more. Why? I kept asking myself for the longest time. Why did she lie to me? Why did she tell me that she would come back when she knew she wouldn't? Why did she tell me she would always protect me when she abandoned me? Why did she leave me there? Why did she do what she did?

I looked at my reflection in the river, as if that would hold the answers to my questions. All I saw was an angry, upset, and confused Chikorita. My red eyes, my leaf on my head, the green string of buds on my neck, and my pale skin were being reflected back by the light of the moon, so I saw where the burns marred me. They would heal after a while, but some things weren't so easy to mend. The tears that I had cried in childhood tried once more to burn at the corners of my eyes, but this time I would not let them fall

"(Why?! Why did you do it?! Why did you leave me alone?!)" I yelled out.

I had to let it out, to let out all of the chaotic feelings within me right now. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I tossed the leaf on my head into the water splashing away my mirror image. The ripples scattered the picture, but it slowly brought itself back together.

That picture was it in a nutshell. I couldn't really do anything about it. My past was past, and that was that. It couldn't be changed. Only the present could be changed, and that was what I should care about right now, and nothing else.

Deciding to limp back towards the nearby woods, I thought about something else. It was the perfect thing to remember at a time like this, I thought sarcastically. "(Boy if Leaf saw me,)" I laughed humorlessly "(He'd laugh hysterically at me right now.)"

Anyone who mentions Bambi shall be flogged. :P I was going more for Larvitar without the happy ending when I thought of this. As for what happened to her mother I leave that up to your imaginations, yeah.

Here's the new chapter, which I would have had up sooner if I didn't have problems getting onto forums, but whatever. It's up now finally. Anyway if anyone wants to comment on it go right ahead, because knowing what you guys think would be nice.

I trudged into the forest after I finally forced my aching body to leave the riverbank, but maybe that wasn't the only reason I had wanted to stay. Maybe it was the muddled and confused feelings I had right now that made me want to leave eventually. I made my way toward the forest despite my body's protests. I just couldn't take it anymore. I was so tired and it still hurt so badly. That was the nasty thing about burns; there was no way of escaping the pain until you were healed. And that was exactly why, even with my cluttered mind, I had to find shelter now. I couldn't afford to be out in the open like this.

Staggering around the edge of the woods desperately looking for something suitable, I finally saw it, an old tree there wasn't much left of. I wandered to the hollowed out tree that just seemed to be calling my name. It was just on the edge before the start of the riverbank, not exactly the best place for cover, but I didn't care. As long as I wasn't in plain sight it would work. Just a few more steps and I could forget everything for now.

"(What are you doing?!)"

"(Wah!)"

What the...

I raised my head at the voice, but that caused my vision to not cooperate. All I could see in front of me was a brown smudge. And then it was kinda fuzzy and started to disappear... uhh...

"(Well?)" she hissed.

Shaking my head several times in an attempt to clear it, I tried to make out what it was, though that just made me dizzy. I blinked, and slowly the smudge started to appear. A giant brown and cream rodent with large teeth was standing between me and the tree. A Raticade? I think? “Greeeaaaat.” I thought sarcastically.

"(Uh... Huh?)" What does it want from me anyway?

"(You're coming toward the tree! Leave!)" she hissed once more.

Yeah, that figures. Should have known... "(Yeah, so what?)" I threw back at her.

"(It's mine! So Leave! Now, or I'll fight!)" she shrieked.

I looked her giant pair of white shiny teeth, and I knew wasn't in really any position to take her on. She had all the advantages in this, and that fact disgusted me to no end. Though if there was just some way I could...

"Rata!"

Huh? The sound made me turn my head to look around her back toward the tree. There I saw the reason or reasons behind her aggression, when my eyes met several pairs of red ones staring back at me. I had never seen Rattata that small, and they were snuggled up to each other in tight little balls. They were also shaking, I guess shivering in fear.

The mother Raticate noticed where my eyes were unfortunately, and she quickly jumped in front of me to block my vision. She yelled, "(I'll fight you!)"

I sighed, any thoughts I had previously had were now pointless. There were better places out there than this, and it was her claim anyway. For some reason though, I lost the will to have any sort of argument over this. Normally, I'd never back down, at least not without an argument or some kind of snarkyness on my part, but now I just felt like leaving it alone. I just wanted to get away.

I turned away and limped farther into the forest. I didn't do it fast enough to stop her hissing, "(Leave!)" Once I got far enough away, I did however stop long enough to look back to see her snuggle amongst her litter in the tree. They chirped and squeaked happily when they saw her, while she nuzzled them in return. I guess they were happy that the "danger" had passed.

So my previous thoughts returned. Did fate have something against me? What did I do wrong in the first place? Was there supposed be some big important lesson I was supposed to get from all this?

I didn't know. All I could do was limp back into the trees.

---

The sun was already painting the bright morning dawn by the time I hobbled into a small thicket of trees. The Pok&#233;mon were getting up and starting their morning routine already, as if any of it mattered. The only thing I cared about was finding a place to lay low for awhile. I just wanted to sleep, which was ironic, since I should have had plenty of sleep from being unconscious, but I guess that still wasn't enough. My mood was so lackluster that I even ignored the Mankey who started mocking me from the trees, well besides the harsh glare I gave them.

Eventually I came to a place near a tree’s exposed roots and snuggled in the best I could. I pondered about my predicament, but what could I do? Then my thoughts began turning back to Leaf and what he would have said to me.

Suddenly hearing a noise I directed my head toward the sound. I got up, trying hard to be ready for what might be outside, even though it was a pretty pathetic attempt in my current situation. When I heard it again, I realized it was a dripping noise. Where and what could be dripping though? Cautiously, I walked in the direction of the sound and the louder it became, the more confusing it was. I couldn't see anything anywhere that could be making it. Shrugging it off I decided I- "(Whoa!)"

Before I knew it the ground beneath me gave way. The sensation of weightlessness left me feeling like my stomach was flying into my throat. Confusion and chaos reigned in my mind as I was falling and tumbling down; hitting the dirt over and over as it just never seemed to end.

Until it did.

With a hard smack my body hit the unforgiving ground. Groaning, I glanced around myself and guessed that I was in a small cave of some sort. It looked as though it had been hollowed out by rain. Staring up above me, there was a hole about the size of my body.

I must have fallen through the weakened earth. There was another hole in front of me leading outside, so I knew I wasn't trapped. I sighed once more though, it seemed as though things just kept going wrong. Starting to wonder how I was going to find a place to stay, it suddenly hit me, this was perfect.

After a while I curled up and began my attempt to sleep. The cave wasn’t the best place to get comfortable in, as it was just a hard dirt bed and the place reeked of a smell that told of mold. Still, for the time being it was the best place I could find to escape the world and my turbulent mind.

Too bad my previous thoughts followed along anyway; alas not even a cave could hide one from their thoughts.

I continued to replay that battle over and over again in my mind, trying to figure out where I went wrong. What did I do to put myself in this predicament? I had nearly been caught, and I shuddered at that thought. I had beaten every one of their Pok&#233;mon until they called out that monster. Well no, it wasn't a monster, even if it was insanely powerful, for a monster wouldn't have had remorse, so it was just a really freaky whatever-y thing.

Which of course they cheated by pulling out in the first place. I snorted. Yes, of course it was perfectly fair to send however many Pok&#233;mon again and again against one. Yep, no matter how many times they had been beaten in battle, they would win the war by simply winning just once. Yeah, it wasn’t as if the odds were in their favor...

"Blaming the other side for your loss isn't going to get you anywhere. If you lose a battle it's your fault, not theirs. You just couldn't find a way to win."

Shut up! I knew the voice ringing in my head, and I had been trying to block it out since the river. No, I wasn't going to listen to him now of all times.

I just knew if he ever found out about this he would be laughing his butt off at me.

"What? Are you that weak?"

No! They outnumbered me! It was not my fault!

“Maybe it’s because you don’t have the same desire for power, because you want something else.”

I ground my teeth against one another, how I just hated to think of him right now. I could still see him even though I didn't want to.

Slowly my mind began drifting back on that journey through time. Before I knew it, it was as if the object of my frustration was staring right before me, with that same odd grin, and thirst for power. The one who had the mysterious name that left me intrigued and later disgusted.

Leaf.

---

I had grown somewhat accustomed to the idea of being on my own. It wasn't like I had a choice, right? So after a while I settled into a pattern of finding food, a place to sleep everyday, and of course fighting for those things more often than not, since they didn't always come for free. The only problem was that the other Pok&#233;mon didn't like to fight fair; they loved ganging up on me if they could, or if they happened to be a Fire type... Boy, I hated Fire types.

It was where I was today, continuing my daily monotony, searching once again for something I could eat. There was quite a bit I could eat actually, but none of it was anything I could get to without getting caught in yet another battle. It wasn’t like I would back down, but darn it, I just couldn't seem to win enough.

That was what truly had me fed up with this. I knew now that mommy got all of that food because they knew she would beat them, or she did actually beat them for the right to feed there. She had her own territory, divided up amongst the other Pok&#233;mon, her own place to wander. Also she could leave it anytime she wanted to as well, because she was apparently strong enough that they wouldn't try to steal it.

Of course that left me wondering how she could have disappeared in the first place, if she was that powerful. And naturally that territory was stolen once it was shown she wasn't coming back. I guess it should have been mine, but I didn't have a place in the world anymore. I went wherever I chose, and I really didn't want to stay there anymore after what happened. So why would I try to fight dozens of Pok&#233;mon for something I didn't really want?

I continued walking until... a smell... a wonderful smell drifted into my nostrils. Immediately I gazed upward, seeing a row of trees with blossoms. They looked so good; I could just taste the sweet nectar. Forgetting everything that happened, I just wanted to suck on the sweet taste. Except... there was the smell of Mankey everywhere. Did I mention I hate Mankey too? Thingys, as I used to call them, were nasty, annoying Pok&#233;mon that didn't know the meaning of fighting fair.

But I glanced back up at the blossoms, the blossoms that were probably theirs, and I realized that I'd probably never get anything if I didn't try and take it. I was completely through with being pushed around; I had as much right to anything as anyone else. If that meant I had to fight for it until I finally won... then I would do it. Because I knew I was going to win and become just as powerful as the other Pok&#233;mon if I kept trying. If I gave up, then it would be all over, wouldn't it? That was not an option.

With my new found courage, I used my vines and wrapped them around the small branch up above containing the blossoms, breaking them off with ease. I began deliciously slurping the sweet nectar within, and it was sheer bliss. It beat all of the leaves and twigs I had been forced to eat so far. Just let those Mankey show up and try to take me away from this.

"(Hey!)"

I guess I spoke too soon.

"(Mine!)" shrieked one of them. Once I looked around there had to be ten or twelve at least. Oh boy, what had I gotten myself into now? But this was it, the test of the new me; the me that wasn't getting pushed around anymore.

"(So what?!)" I cried, "(Who says that you own them?!)"

"(We do!)" And with that they pounced.

I'd like to say that I handled them with ease and sent them home packing with the message not to mess with me. But that's not the way things worked out unfortunately. Remember how I said they didn't fight fair? Well, my vines and leaves did no good under a pile of a dozen Mankey that were hitting, kicking, slashing, and spitting. For every one I hit there was another to take its place. I really screwed up this time, huh?

Then just as I was about to tire out... it happened.

WHACK!

My head jerked up at the sound just in time to see half of them flying to the dirt. How had that happened? I glanced around everywhere, then I felt a sudden sensation that I was about to be hit by something, so I hit the floor. There was a whirl and a cracking sound as the rest of them were sent into a heap. What was going on? What if I was next?

I gasped as I saw it.

There, not too far away, was a cream colored Pok&#233;mon around the size of me. It had a leaf on the top of its head and a string of green buds forming a ring around its neck. There was only one thing that mattered though, and it left my jaw on the floor. Could this really be real? It looked just like me... It looked just like me!

I blinked in wonder at the sight, waiting for the other me to disappear, but it didn't. In all the time I had been around I had never seen another Pok&#233;mon that looked like me. Mommy looked sort of like me, but she and I were still very different.

This Pok&#233;mon however could pass for my identical twin. I was staring at it for so long that I almost forgot about the battle.

The Mankey were back on their feet quickly despite the hits, but the uh... other Chikorita didn't seem fazed at all. Once again they attacked, except instead of me this time they were focused on him. I speculated on how it was going to get out of there without getting hit.

Yet he started dodging them one by one as if it was nothing. My mouth dropped open at the sight.

I gasped. It was like it was reading their movements ahead of time. Was that really possible? Could you really read what your opponents movements were going to be next? Just then another of the Mankey closed in, there was no way it would be able to dodge. I wondered what it would do next.

It threw its vines around the Mankey's legs instantly making it trip, and then using that momentum it threw it into the nearest tree. Turning around it did that to the next one, except it threw it into another Mankey. It started a pattern of throwing and smacking Mankey. After that it threw its vines out, and started to sweep them around and around in circle, sending any of the remaining Mankey that didn't jump out of the way to the ground. The ones that were left ran for it, but it seemed like it had an idea. The next thing that happened was that it wrapped its vines around their front paws, throwing them into each other.

Things were like that for most of the battle, with it outwitting them at every turn. I couldn’t believe it; I had never seen such skill in a battle. I desperately tried to take in as much as I could, as I knew I could learn something from this. This other strange Pok&#233;mon that looked like me, had caught my attention too, since now I knew for sure there were more of me. I had to know more about it.

Afterward, the Mankey were running away, and I saw it shaking the dust off. Watching it walk over to start getting the blooms down from the trees, I bit my lip for a moment and made my way over toward it. My eyes flew over every detail of its body, the cream skin, the head leaf, the string of buds, it was all there. I found myself speculating how if it was the same, then how could it beat all those Mankey like it was nothing? Soon my anger also began to boil at such a thought.

"(What are you?)"

It looked away from the blooms for a moment to glance at me, and then went right back to tearing them down from the trees. "(What do you mean?)"

"(You look-)"

"(I'm a Chikorita.)"

"(Of course you are,)" I muttered. I'd just mistakenly let on that I had never seen another one of me before, so I decided to dance around that issue. "(What I meant was I had never seen you around this area before.)"

He shrugged. "(I just got here.)"

“(From where?)” I asked.

He paused to think for a moment. “(From wherever.)”

"(Oh.)" I mumbled. It didn't seem like I was going to get any answers out of him. If he didn't want to talk then fine, I'd figure this out some way or another on my own. So I brought out my vines and began to break off a branch of blooms-

THWACK!

-when then were slapped away by a matching pair.

"(Hey!)" I hissed.

He simply stared back nonchalantly. "(I didn't say you could eat them.)"

I growled, "(Oh yeah! Who made you the boss?!)"

"(I did, when I beat those Mankey,)" he stated.

"(Oh so because of that you're now in charge?)"

"(Yeah, because I won. You didn't. So they’re mine,)" he smirked.

I smirked back. I knew where this was heading, and I wasn't about to back down. "(So you want me to battle you?)"

He looked at me confused, not the reaction I was expecting. "(You've got to be kidding me.)"

Shuddering with fury I growled through my teeth, "(Why not?!)" He wasn't just mocking me. Was he that shocked that I wanted to battle?

Smiling he taunted, "(I mean, if you couldn't beat them, how do you expect to beat me?)"

"(I'll show you how!)" I retorted.

He shook his head with a laugh. "(Fine, if that's the way you want to be.)" Next he walked out in an open area away from the trees to face me.

I didn't hesitate either.

Immeadiately I charged with everything I was worth. As I was rapidly approaching him, it annoyed me even more that he just stood there... looking like he was bored? Wait a minute? Did he just yawn? Why that little-! No way was I going to stand for that!

"(Take this!)" I screamed throwing as many leaves at him as was possible while running.

He finally took notice by throwing his own leaves and ducking from the rest. Now he was focused, and I was going to show him why he should be. Little did he know he was about to play right into my vines.

I threw out my vines in a straight shot right at him, and as much as I wanted them to hit, I wasn't surprised when he dodged to my right. That was right where I wanted him, he had unknowingly jumped closer to me. That was also when I spun on my feet to nail him with a full on tackle.

But all of my sudden my feet weren’t under me anymore.

Everything whirled around for a brief second before I skidded on the ground. I was completely disoriented, but got back up quickly to try and stop his next attack. How did that happen?

He smiled and merely nodded at me to continue. Growling I tossed my leaves at him again. This time however he didn't even dodge, instead tossing his own back.

Much to my chagrin he apparently had more of them than I did.

Jumping to my left to avoid the leaves , I saw a brief green blur before I felt a hit that sent me cart wheeling end over end. Once I hit the dirt I caught a mouthful a grass that stopped my slide, though that was worse instead of better. Opening my eyes, I spit out the blades and cast my glare at my smirking opponent. Darn it. He was doing something...

It threw its vines around the Mankey's legs instantly making it trip, and then using that momentum it threw it into the nearest tree.

…with his vines.

I pulled myself to my feet. This was the same attack he was using on the Mankey. He wasn't just throwing his vines, he was using them. Hmm... If he could do it I could too. All I had to do was be ready the next time. I smirked causing him to look at me curiously, as it was time to throw him off guard.

I attacked head on.

Merely shaking his head he waited for me to get just close enough... to lash out his vines at my feet in a whipping motion. However I leapt off the ground the moment I saw him move. He was mine now.

Then in a split second he whipped them back.

"(Oomph!)"

I didn't see that coming at all. Rolling on the grass once more I felt more frustrated than ever. There had to be a way to beat this guy! And I would find it no matter what it took. Though my right shoulder didn't agree with this sentiment at all as I tried to get up. Glancing down I saw the mark left by the whiplash, as well as the red color that was starting to appear. Yet I did my best to ignore it, and hide my limp as I got back into position.

He only reacted with a smile. "(I guess I call this one.)"

"(What?!)" I replied angrily. Who was he to call it over?

"(Look at you, you can barely stand up. And you think you can win? Yeah right.)" He shook his head.

"(I can win!)" I screamed in dispute.

Shrugging his shoulders he unexpectedly replied, '(Yeah, you could...)" dragging out the last word.

"(Huh?)" What was he trying to say?

"(But you just don't know how,)" he stated.

"(What do you mean I don't know how?! I'll have you know I've won plenty of battles!)" I challenged, while desperately looking for an opening to knock him into unconsciousness.

Shaking his head he added, "(It's not my fault you're weak.)"

"(WHAT!?)" I bellowed. Forget looking for an opening, my plan was to shut him up in the fastest way possible. It probably wasn't the best course of action, but I shot my vines at his head.

Which he just slightly ducked. If I hadn't been so angry, I could have tried to whip them around him, but alas I fired them off too fast.

"(Like I said, don't blame me for your problems,)" he taunted, then grinned wickedly. "(If you ever get your act together find me.)"

With that he turned and ran away. I tired to follow, but the cut protested too much at the movement. Grinding my teeth I yelled, "(Coward!)" It made no difference on his escape whatsoever either as he kept on running into the distance...

Not even stopping when he used his vines to grab one of the branches with the blossoms he tore off earlier.

I let out scream of "Chika!" with every bit of the rage I held. But it didn't matter, he was gone. That lowly piece of dirt, who thought he was all that and an orchard of fruit, had left the scene of the crime. Who did he think he was to battle somebody, get the upper hand, and then say they can't win before it's over and run away like a coward? I would show him next time. I’d show him who the real weakling was.

---

It was the next day when I finally tracked him down again. My shoulder was fine enough for a rematch, at least I thought it was. The truth was, all I cared about was knocking him into the next lunar cycle, my body’s complaints be darned.

There he was eating some fruit without another Pok&#233;mon in sight. It wasn’t that hard to figure out he'd battled again, and I guess that was why my appearance bothered him as well. "(You really are annoying, you know that?)"

Yet to such a thing I could only grin, a sardonic grin, but a grin none the less. "(Only to those I want to annoy.)"

He snorted, and I added, "(But you're the one who’s been annoying. Battling and then running off like a coward to taunt me.)" Then letting some my frustration seep into my voice, which I hadn’t wanted to give him the satisfaction of knowing, I asked the one thing that I had been wanting to know since the beginning, "(What's your deal anyway? You know before I unleash my wrath?)"

"(My deal?)" he repeated, albeit with a bit of an airy tone, yet surprisingly it soon turned serious. "(My deal is that I want power, no, I need power, a lot of it quickly. And I can't get that battling you constantly.)" But then his tone lightened there at the end and he smiled at me.

"(What?! What do you mean you can't get power battling me? I'm not weak, and if you didn't run away you'd see that,)" I hissed readying myself for what was going to be our next battle.

But he didn't respond to the challenge, instead, "(No I mean you and I, we're the same.)"

That caught me off guard.

"(Huh?)"

"(What I mean is,)" he paused for a second to think, "(is that we're the same, the same type, the same Pok&#233;mon, the same power. You don't get more power by battling yourself. It's a waste of time and energy.)"

"(So you're saying I'm a waste of time?)" I muttered dryly. "(Then why were you the one who challenged me in the first place?!)" Let him answer that.

He shrugged while smirking. "(I wanted to test your power, besides it was my food.)"

"(You're the waste of time you know that?)" I mocked. "(You're making no sense. First you don't want to battle, then you want to test me? Make up your mind.)" He still wasn't letting down his defenses either I noticed, no matter how long we talked. What now?

Then he said, "(It's simple really. If we battle those that are similar to us then we get better, but only in that way. I tested you because I wanted to see how I stack up against others like me. But if you really want to get powerful you have to battle those that are different, those that are more powerful than you, and those that you are weak against.)"

His words sunk into me. I had never heard anything like that before. I had always battled for food and shelter, and when I was challenged, but I had never heard of seeking out battles like that. "(Why do you want power?)" I asked, trying hard at the same time not to let on that I was interested. It seemed like it was the theme that drove him.

"(Because without it you can never be what you want,)" he stated it simply enough, but there was so much more to it than that.

And... I had to know.

"(What do you mean?)"

"(Don't you get it? We're on the bottom of the food chain. Not just against predators, but amongst ourselves too. The weak starve, and the strong survive. The more powerful you are, the more you don't have to be subjugated by what's around you. No one can tell you what to do, what to eat, where to sleep, all because you're stronger than them. When you have power everyone makes way for you. And you can do anything you want.)"

I stared at him. What he said, it made so much sense. I knew it was true, and deep down I knew I had been playing that game myself. I never backed down from what I wanted, no matter what I had to go through to get it. But was that what I was doing? Was my desire for freedom really a search for power? Or did I have to seek it knowingly?

Whatever the answer I wanted to know one thing.

"(Who are you?)"

"(You can call me Leaf,)" he smiled

---

Eventually as time wore on we ran into each other more and more. I still burned for a battle, but for once I was able to delay my need to challenge him for now. Deciding to put the rematch on hold for the time being, I started talking with him, as I wanted answers. There were so many questions I had, whether or not he really wanted to answer. Well, lets just say I didn’t give him that option.

“(Have you ever seen any others like us?)” I couldn’t take it any longer, I just had to know.

“(Sometimes, but not anywhere around here, except for you,)” he replied.

“(What are they like?)” I asked with curiosity getting the better of me.

He looked at me strangely before he smiled. “(You really haven’t seen any other Pok&#233;mon like us have you?)”

I stared at the ground and muttered, “(No.)”

“(It’s okay. I figured as much based on what you said earlier. There aren’t a lot of Grass Pok&#233;mon up here anyway,)” he clarified.

“(Why’s that?)” I questioned.

“(Because they prefer the more fertile areas to the south. I got tired of hanging around there all the time. That’s why I came up here to find new opponents.)” He shrugged his shoulders.

“(Like me?)” I taunted.

He gave me the sarcasm right back. “(Yeah, right.)”

“(No, really I mean it Leaf,)” I challenged him. Okay, so I wasn’t that good at controlling my pride. But I did try.

Instead he responded, “(They’re not like us.)”

I blinked in confusion. “(What are you talking about?)”

“(The other Chikorita, they’re different; nicer. All they care about is how much sun they can take in, they don’t have the ruthless battling streak we do. In fact most of them wouldn’t last a moon up here, a simple fire attack would cause one to faint.)” His brows knotted as he tried to explain it.

“(Really?)” They were that different?

“(Yeah, in fact I had heard all the Pok&#233;mon up here were tougher. This place, they tell stories about it. It’s the wild place where the Pok&#233;mon don’t go down until they fall apart, don’t share any food, and don’t know the meaning of sticking together,)” he told me happily.

Yeah, that described this area well all right. But wait? Why was he happy?

“(And you like that?)” I insinuated.

“(Sure, I didn’t fit in where I was,)” he supplied.

I stared back at him. “(Why not?)” I knew why not, but something told me there was more. I wanted all the answers I could get.

“(They didn’t understand me. Everything’s so simple for them. Get up, eat, sleep, the same thing over and over. There has to be more than that right? I wanted more, and they couldn’t see it. So you see, I want power and because of that I left.)” He looked away in frustration.

“(Where did you live?)” What was this place? The perfect world that I somehow missed? Or was he lying?

He shrugged. “(It was a Grass Pok&#233;mon colony, they called the place the preserve, or something like that.)”

My eyes narrowed. “(You mean there weren’t any predators?)”

He shook his head. “(Nope.)”

“(Mankey?)”

“(Uh-uh.)”

“(Not even a single non Grass type?)”

“(Not really.)”

No wonder they had such a skewed view of the world.

“(I get it. They had a one track mind. But Leaf I think there’s more than even you see here.)” He hadn’t been here as long as I had.

“(Oh I know that, it’s not about what I can see, but what I can feel.)” He smiled.

I looked into his eyes. “(What you can feel? You mean beyond what you see? But how is power like that?)”

“(Because I want it more than anything,)” he answered.

I turned away in disgust. “(The last time I wanted something that badly, it didn’t happen, no matter how hard I hunted. Do you think you can handle not getting what you want? Dreams and wishes don’t always come true.)”

“(I enjoy it. Trying to get it is fun in itself. I couldn’t imagine not doing it.)” He smiled even bighter than I had seen before while talking about it. It must really mean that much to him. But trying to attain power makes his days worthwhile? That made little sense. How could a feeling get to him like that?

“(Yeah, sure.)” I sorta attempted to make it look like I understood.

“(What do you want?)” he asked.

“(What do I want?)” I repeated.

“(Yeah, you said dreams don’t come true?)”

I smiled for the first time at him, well one that didn’t have a nasty insinuation. “(What I want is to know, why do you have a name?)” Good way of dodging the question. Go me!

“(Well,) he drawled, “(What’s your name?)”

“(Um,) I wasn’t ready for him to fire back.

“(You didn’t have any guardians?)” he inquired.

Guardians? “(What’s that?)”

“(The ones who “guard” the egg,)” he gave the explanation.

Then it dawned on me. “(Like parents?)”

“(Um sure, if that’s what they do, anyway they name the kids so they can call out for them without the other Pok&#233;mon knowing what they are calling.)” he said.

“(Nope,)” I said it with my quite voice neutral. I wasn’t lying… Well not now anyway. I had been called something… I think. Not that I’d want be called anything that related to her.

“(I didn’t have any guardians either. After a while I chose my name. I just wanted to be different.)”

He never had anyone. Well that explained a lot. But it didn’t look like it bothered him from the way he talked. Can’t miss what you didn’t have, right?

Not that I missed anything.

Nope, no siree. I wasn’t lonely. I didn’t need anybody either.

“(So do I,)” I agreed, even if I didn’t want another name. Names were personal… No one could ever talk to me like that again, and such emotion was but a fleeting memory. Emotion required you to care more than you should. It was something that no longer existed for me, or so I told myself.

---

After a while I had gotten to know Leaf. He was stranger than any Pok&#233;mon I had met, and in a way familiar. Not just in physical appearance either. He also had a penchant for annoying me, and I knew he was doing it on purpose, so I finally got fed up.

"(Why do you like to get under my skin?)" I asked. Well maybe not asked, more like there was an underlying threat hidden in there, but I had to let him know there were lines not to be crossed. Not unless he wanted another battle to fight.

"(Because you're so much fun to annoy,)" he said with a smile. That smile, there was no way he could be truly happy with a smile like that, as something about it was odd. I just couldn't figure out what though.

"(What?)" I said flatly. He'd better not mean it.

"(You take your pride so seriously. If you’re strong then you don't need to put on a show. Though I think and know it has something to do with the fact that you're stubborn,)" he said with a smirk.

"(You'd better believe it. Besides no matter how strong I was I wouldn't let anyone put me down. It's all a matter of respect, doesn't that have to do with what you want?)" I declared.

"(In a way,)" he lulled lazily laying on his back. "(Isn't it what you want too?)"

"(Of course I want to be strong,)" I answered.

"(I think there's more,)" he insinuated.

What did that mean? "(What?)"

He looked up at me. "(You want it because it's what you want. If say, you wanted to travel tomorrow then you would. If you wanted to find a companion you would. It's your kind of personality. Your spirit drives you, but right now you don't know where. You don't have a purpose, and until you find what fulfills you, you won't know what you really want in life.)"

I stared back at him. Never had I ever heard anyone else speak so deeply. I had thought about such things myself, but I never thought I'd actually hear it out loud. But still was he saying I was directionless, wandering around without a clue? I wasn't... No I couldn't… I knew I couldn't. I knew what I wanted...

"(You think I don't know what I want?)" I muttered.

He got up and looked me in the eye. "(Well what do you want?)"

"(I want to be strong like I said. I want to be able to do what I want. I want the power to be me,)" I declared this with affirmation.

"(But is that what you truly desire? You just said you wanted the power to be yourself. What is yourself then?)" he questioned rhetorically.

"(Desire?)" I repeated. (“What are you talking about? I know who I am.)”

Boring his eyes directly down into mine it felt like he was trying to read my mind. "(Deep down, what you really want. For me it was easy. Gaining power gave me joy, nothing could beat it. But for you, you put up a front, I can see that. You don't have the passion for it that I do. Because it doesn’t give you joy like it does me.)”

He paused for a moment before he continued, “(You enjoy winning for winning, heck you'd get as much thrill from beating me in a race as you would a battle. Why? Just because you’d won. You had beaten me. That’s what you get your thrill from, not the battle, but the victory.)” He stopped and looked away from me saying with a serious tone, “(Right now your pride drives you, but what if you actually wanted something? Until you find what you desire, you won't truly be happy, because only then will you fight for it.)"

I wanted to scream, I wanted to deny his accusations, I wanted to say he didn't know what he was talking about, but I knew he knew too much. Deep down in the deepest darkest recesses of my mind I knew what I had once wanted so much, as that was the last time I had truly been happy.

To my surprise she smiled. "(You don't have to worry about that.)"

"(I don't?)" I queried.

"(No, and do you know why?)"

"(Un-uh)" I shook my head.

"(Because I'll always try my best to protect you.)" After saying that she lovingly nuzzled her cheek next to mine again. Her voice... it was so soft, and yet so serious at the same time.

And I looked deep into her yellow eyes and knew she was telling the truth.

"(I love you, Mommy,)" I said with the most love with and gratitude I could muster.

"(I love you too honey.)"

But I knew I couldn't have that, I couldn't take that, and I couldn't want that, simply because it was more trouble than it was worth. Those feelings were gone. Never again would things be that way.

"(Why?)" I asked him. But he knew that it had more meaning than what was said. He understood what I was getting at.

"(Because I wonder what you'd be like if you battled with everything you had.)"

---

Battle with everything I had? The present day me could only ask the absurdity of such a question. What did I just do? Lie down and beg the humans to take me?

For some reason he had it stuck in his head that I didn’t give it my all in our first battle. Though I’ll never know why. Goodness knew I hated his guts at the time.

But still even now his words burned in a way. I did enjoy winning when I fought, but why not? The winning was much better than losing. I didn’t enjoy a losing battle. Not that I hardly ever lost a battle now, I was much better and experienced.

Though for me it still left the question of what was it that really actually made me happy?

The more mature me knew exactly what it was. I knew what it was then, but I had denied it. The feelings of abandonment still stung enough for me to deny emotion itself. They were also strong enough for me not to see why I was hanging around Leaf, besides my wanting a rematch and curiosity. It made sense now though.

Even if I still didn't like to admit it.

I sighed. It was always like this, it had been since the earliest time that I could remember being alone.

There was a difference in me as I got older. At least I knew what I wanted, or what I would have liked to change, but...

That was a choice I didn't think I had. For I couldn't afford to not focus and take my eyes off the big picture. I had to put up a front to the world, never showing one weakness. If not then what would happen? Would I have already been eaten or captured? Like today? If I had given in, would I have ended up like that poor Growlithe?

On the other hand... This was my prize?

At the end of the day where did that leave me? Was this all there was? The daily monotony was my fate? Or was it to be left to the battles where everything was on the line? Where I had to fight for the right to that very basic way of life against wild and human trained Pok&#233;mon alike?

My free spirit bristled at such bitter questions...

Or was there more out there and I just hadn't found it yet? Was everything I'd ever dreamed of laying across the forest from me? If I chose not to accept this and tried to find what I truly wanted, then what?

...but I was smarter than to let down my guard and believe such silly thoughts.

What was next for me then? Did I even have a choice in the matter?

Watching the drips of water travel down the side of the wall, I pondered their journey. They followed the well worn path through the rock, going all the way down until they joined the others in a small puddle. But then there were some, just a few that veered off the beaten path, and made their own way to new places. Though they descended into the shadows before they got there. The darkness was what lay ahead of the trail... The unknown.

Was there a way I could get off the beaten path? Would I take it? Would the chance ever come for me to leap into the unknown?

At a time like this I could only yawn. I was still fighting off sleep, for I didn’t want my thoughts to wander into my dreams. Though it was a losing battle.

Such confusing thoughts were futile anyway. I knew what the world was made up of. Though on the other hand the last time I thought that, I had been shocked later on.

All thanks to Leaf.

He turned my life upside down whether for the better or worse. It all depended on how I considered the knowledge I would come to possess.

The last thing I wanted to dream about was him. For eventually he brought more trouble than it was worth, even if he introduced me to another part of the world I never even knew about. But those were thoughts for another time as the somehow comforting darkness of sleep came across my vision.

For the time being I was free of having to deal with such conflicting ideas.

Little did I know that maybe I should have kept my eyes open awhile longer.

Well, here's Chapter Five, and I would have had it out a lot sooner if the first time I tried to post it hadn't turned into a disaster. The lag killed it, and I forgot to copy paste it before I hit submit. In other words everything I had done got eaten, and I just now tried reformat it again. Sorry, but this chapter is long. I definitely copy pasted this time.

As the blissful relaxation I was feeling began to slip away, I tried desperately to hold on, but it was no use. Soon enough the reality I had tried to escape was upon me again. Though I tried as hard as I could to return to the wonderful calmness that I had been experiencing in sleep, I was too awake to. To my chagrin I felt my warm bed turn into a mixture of cold hard dirt and rock, the annoying light becoming ever more prevalent, and that annoying rumbling noise had started to get on my nerves.

Noise?

My eyes flew open as I was now wide awake and searching all around for the source of the sound. But I couldn't believe what I was seeing when they landed on the scene before me. Was that a rock?

I blinked. The rumbling seemed to be coming from that direction near the entrance...

But...

How could a rock make noise?

That made no sense whatsoever, but then again very little seemed to make sense at the moment. If only I had more light, but the main source was coming from the hole I had made the night before, and most of the opening was being blocked by said rock which left it in the shadows.

Come to think of it, when did it cover up the entrance to the cave? There wasn't a rock there the last time. What was going on?

Moving my still beaten body, I made my way over toward it, and my eyes narrowed when I saw it move up and down repeatedly. I blinked when I realized it was moving along with making the noises.

It was like it was... um, snoring?

Wait a minute.

That couldn't be right...

Rocks don't snore.

Then that meant...

Quietly as possible I crawled to the front of it, gasping when even in the dim light I saw the ears. That information was just enough to make out what it was, along with the whiffs of its scent I was now getting. I could only gulp.

It was an Ursaring.

This couldn't get any worse could it?

My stomach felt like lead, a strange kind of rage overtook me, and for a brief moment I almost began to laugh hysterically...

... in frustration.

Those large brown bears were worse than Mankey, and that was a very hard feat. For one, their tempers were the same, but Ursaring were far more powerful. They were a nightmare to run into, considering they didn't care how many times you hit them. The only one that would count would be the one that knocked them out.

What was I going to do now?

I wasn't exactly in the position to give a knock out hit, especially in this confined dark space where there was hardly any room to dodge. That and as I looked back up to the ceiling at the hole I made I was reminded of how easily it could collapse.

Or...

I could just wait for it to wake up and move on. As long as I hid in the back it might not see me... It might not decide to tear me to shreds....

As if I would do that.

Well then, considering my current situation, there was only one course of action. I took a long look at the gap between the roof of the entrance and the Ursaring, and it was just big enough. All I had to do was pull it off. I flexed my muscles, and they felt a little better, but not by much. My energy however was somewhat restored.

That was all I needed.

Walking back to the other side of the cave I took a deep breath to prepare me for what I was about to do. I needed to time this right. If not, well the results wouldn't be pretty.

Running as fast as I could I threw out my vines and slammed them into the ground. It was just enough to help lift me over it as I took the leap. Of course the loud thwack woke the Ursaring up, but the point was to fly over it faster than its paw could fly at me. Holding my breath I could just feel the rush as I flew over the waking beast.

My feet hit the ground. With my body still intact, I glanced back to see it stare at me with a blank look on its face. Whatever it would do next, I wasn't going to wait around and find out, so I decided to keep going after a second. The more distance I put between me and that Ursaring the better.

If I was going to stand a chance against it I had to get to a better area.

Sure enough just a few steps later I heard the "ROOOAAAAR!"

But I was just far enough ahead to know I could get away. Even in my current state I had the speed to beat an Ursaring with enough of a lead. Well, I did when forest was providing cover right in front of me.

I was frantically gazing around while running for something I could use to my advantage. I would need the element of surprise right now, as I would rather see it before it could see me. A thicket up ahead was the best option at the moment, so I ducked in and waited...

... and waited...

... and waited...

After spending a while in the bush waiting for it, the same conclusion I had come to in my mind was obvious. The Ursaring wasn't going to show up, because it couldn't find me, or it must have stopped looking, or it never even bothered to. So I wandered over next to a tree and sat down, letting myself relax since I was still covered by the bushes.

Call me crazy, but the last thought was a tad disappointing. I wasn't good enough to even be chased now? I wasn't worth it?

I quickly shook my head of such stupid thoughts. A little while ago I was the coveted prize of humans who wielded a monsterish freak of a Pokémon and I had defeated the cursed ball. Nothing had really changed since then.

Yet...

All I could do is sigh.

My utter frustration at what had happened the past few days was overwhelming. I went from a nice place that I liked and had lots of food to a... wherever this was that I now hated, and I hadn't seen a decent thing worth eating since I'd been here. To say that I felt had was an understatement.

Once those thoughts cleared from my head, I tried to turn my attention to other things.

Yet my previous musings had seemed to come back without my asking, which really didn't help me feel better either. Though considering the current situation it wasn't really surprising. I was in a rather foul mood anyway.

But seeing as how I had nothing else to do at the moment, the thoughts were difficult to banish.

The fact was I was stuck in this game, whether I liked it or not. It wouldn't have been so bad had there been anything to gain besides the chance to continue playing, but I had yet to achieve anything.

No matter how hard I tried, it just didn't change. Everything went on the same day after day. But then when was it different? It had always been like this for as long as I remembered.

The only time it wasn't like this was when I was little and that didn't last very long at all. Maybe that was why I wished I could return to the way it was before I knew better. Maybe that was why I didn't see what was coming when I met Leaf.

Once again the memories began flooding back torrentially and I was helpless to stop them.

---

One day Leaf promised me that he'd show me something I'd never seen before. I couldn't possibly imagine what I had never seen before because I thought I had seen just about everything. But he said it was sure to be different so I followed him.

We walked along in silence for a while. I was eyeing him carefully trying to figure it out, but he wasn’t letting anything on. He seemed to have something else on his mind.

Suddenly the silence was interrupted when he said, "Come on" and took off running like a flash. The unexpected bolt caught me off guard and left me rushing to catch up. Cursing Leaf the entire time he ran, I wondered if this was a trick. If it was he was going to pay dearly.

Sure enough though, I caught up. A few feet ahead he was there waiting for me.

"Follow me."

That was all he said and I bristled at his command. If this trip was an excuse for him to order me around… Well he'd better hope there really was something to what he was claiming. Though, the seriousness of his facial features told me he was very serious and my curiosity took hold of me once more. Once again I let go of my stubbornness; a rare event, in exchange for walking along to wherever we were headed to find who knows what.

And so I did, we walked and I thought, until...

He wandered out into what looked like a Donphan path. I glanced around a few times, wondering what was so special about it. Donphan made these trails when they used their rolling ability to cut through the forest in a hurry. Then the other Pokémon would use them to take a short cut through the underbrush. What was different about this one though?

"(Well?)" he asked.

"(Well, what? We're on a Donphan path. What's the big deal?)" I queried.

He shook his head. "(It's not just a Donphan path.)" He walked over to the middle of it and started sniffing around. It wasn't that long before I got bored. What was this? Was I going to watch him sniff the dirt all day?

Finally he said, "(Found it.)"

I blinked. "(Found what?)"

He motioned for me to come over, pointing to the spot he had just sniffed. I didn't see what he was getting at, but when I took a sniff... I was shocked. "(What is that?)"

It was one of the strangest things I had ever smelt. In fact it had a completely different kind of odor to it. When I normally smelt Pokémon, even ones I had never smelt before, they all smelt similarly yet different. This however was on a whole other level, as it didn't even smell like a Pokémon. It was missing something... That something I was so used to smelling I never thought I'd smell anything without it.

"(That's what I'm going to show you,)" he smiled.

How can he smile? What can be good about a freaky smell? Whatever the reason, with my curiosity piqued, I followed him back into the bushes. He looked at me. "(Lets walk along just to the edge of the path where we can't be seen. Don't make any noises either. If you want to find out then you gotta play by its rules.)"

I merely nodded, even though I should have been scared about whatever it was I was going to find, but to be honest I was excited. I was always up for a challenge, and the sense of adventure roused me. Trying to figure out what made that smell was almost ready to drive me mad as well.

He sensed my anticipation. "(Don't worry, this isn't going to be a let down I assure you. To be honest I'm wondering if you can handle the truth when you find out.)"

I gave mock laughter. "(Handle it? You've got to be kidding me. After what I've seen I can handle anything.)" Why not? How many other Pokémon survived being in the grasp of a monster and lived to tell about it? I had to have something going for me.

He gave me a look that said "we'll see" and walked away. I gave off an air of confidence in response. Nothing he was going to show me could scare me.

We kept walking and I was beginning to wonder if we were ever going to find... “whatever it was” as I dubbed it. Leaf seemed like he was on high alert for something, though I didn't get why. There was nothing around here, not a single Pokémon even.

That was until whole flocks of Pidgey and Butterfree started flying overhead. They had been startled by something. Especially so if the normally slower, less spookable purple butterfly was making as much an attempt to flee as the bird Pokémon. Their white wings couldn’t seem to get them out of there fast enough. It was a bad sign. The fact that they were crying out in warning to everyone else who would hear made that more obvious.

Butterfree didn't have the speed of the birds, but they had better attacks for holding off predators. They normally would use some kind of weird invisible blast or something to put to sleep something like Persian.

"(Something's wrong,)" I stated the obvious.

"(I know,)" Leaf said without a hint of worry, in fact he seemed happy. "(What were they running from? That's what we're looking for.)"

"(That?)" I questioned. Boy this thing must be more than I first thought. Just what was this thing?

"(Yep,)" he acknowledged. "(Now lets get going.)" With that he took off in the direction of the fleeing flocks, as did I as fast as my feet could carry me.

Eventually we got to a spot where it turned quieter, but not completely so. Some of the Pokémon had fled, but others were acting like nothing was wrong. Hmm... It only added to the mystery.

"(What are we looking for?)" I asked. The confusion surrounding this had started to get on my nerves.

"(It's...,)" he trailed off in thought and bit his lip, before deciding to continue, "(kinda hard to describe. You'll know when you see it).

I wanted to demand he stop being so vague, but somehow I knew that whatever it was, was probably different based on its smell.

But just how different could it be that he couldn't even give me a decent answer?

Little did I know as that sound of something walking up the trail appeared, and Leaf responding by a quick utter of the word "(Hide.)", that when I peered out from the leaves of the bush I was in, I would realize just how under prepared I was.

How can you prepare for something that would change the way you knew the world forever?

At the time however all I could mutter was, "(What kind of Pokémon is that?)" while nodding my head at the strange looking figure heading up the road. My voice had been filled with wonder at the creature.

I knew what Leaf was talking about, how could you describe that? It was kind of like a Mankey in the fact that it had arms and legs, instead of just legs. It walked upright like them too, except far better than a Mankey could walk. Its motion was completely smooth. The hands were far more adept as well, having five fingers instead of three. The real kicker though was the way it was colored. I mean the parts of it that looked the most like skin were cream, but on the top of its head was a tuft of dark blue hair. It had brown eyes as well.

Yet when you went down its body it had this strange fur like skin that draped off it. How could you have fur that hung loosely off your body? It didn't make sense. I blinked my eyes, but the orange that covered its middle was still there, as well as the blue that somehow hung on top of it. Covering its legs was the same blue that hung off the orange, before it stopped and the cream legs were exposed most of the way down, like the way the arms and hands were. And yet the feet, unlike the hands, became strange as well, when they turned red, white, and black without any sign of toes.

In other words this thing was a freak.

Not to mention which since we were downwind the same weird smell came drifting up my nose again.

"(What?)" I was shocked. "(What do you mean it’s not a Pokémon? How can it not be a Pokémon?)" Was he kidding? Everything in the world was made up of Pokémon.

"(Simple. It's just not. There are two things in this world, Pokémon and humans. They're completely different in how they're made up, the way they act, and how they think about things. You already know it’s different. Didn't catch it when you smelt that scent?)" he explained.

He... he was right. That scent, it was almost foreign to me when I smelled it. It was lacking that commonality that all Pokémon shared. This human... wasn't a Pokémon at all, but then what was it?

I gulped, "(Then what is a human?)

Leaf didn't answer at first as he was too busy staring at it, but just when I was going to ask again he nodded his head. "(You're about to see.)"

Looking at the human I noticed that it was now staring intensely at a green and yellow caterpillar known as Caterpie. I didn't get why, Caterpie were boring to watch, unless... Oh, ew. Don't tell me it was going to eat it like the bird Pokémon. Darn. I had seen enough of that disgusting display.

Instead he pulled out a... rock? It fumbled with it for a few seconds with it in its hands, before yelling out in this strange yet understandable voice, "I'm gonna catch this one. Go, Totodile!"

I was trying to figure out what it was doing...

And that was when a bright light appeared and out of nowhere the blue reptile with the red spikes going down its back showed up.

My jaw dropped to the ground. What the-?! That was impossible! How the heck could a Pokémon appear out of thin air?! Unless it was teleporting... but Totodile didn't have that ability!

Not any that I knew anyway.

"(Confused?)" Leaf inquired and I merely nodded. "(It came from the ball. He's going to battle Caterpie.)"

"(Ball? What are you-)" I stopped when I saw that the rock in its hand was now a lot bigger. Oddly half of it was red and the other was white. That wasn't really a rock, was it? Leaf called it a ball. And... wait a minute?

"(Did you say he?)"

He nodded. "(Yeah, after a while you can tell. That one is a he. The girls tend to have longer hair on their heads and higher voices.)"

"(Oh.)" I simply answered. My mind was in complete chaos and I didn't know where to begin. There were so many questions, but for now I didn't want to interrupt what was happening. I also had the feeling that I would get the answers I wanted whether I liked them or not.

"Okay Totodile! Use Scratch!" the human cried.

The next thing I knew Totodile leapt at the Caterpie on the tree and raked its claws down the caterpillar's back knocking it to the ground. Not knocked out, it naturally responded with a tackle that sent the blue reptilian back on its heels. Before it could respond the bug unleashed its secret weapon. It sprayed its opponent with a huge mess of sticky string.

Totodile fell to the ground thrashing, but the human said, "Scratch attack!" and soon enough the threads were slashed away. Caterpie tried to tackle Totodile, but the boy yelled out "Leer!" and it froze on the spot. Before it even had a chance to move the human yelled out another, "Scratch!" and the bug Pokémon was knocked into unconsciousness.

I stood from my place in the bushes in total shock. Why in the world did Totodile listen to a human? They didn't listen to anybody normally, instead choosing to bite down on whatever part of you they could get a hold of. Better yet I was still wondering where it came from. It didn't make any sense.

That was until my questions got their horrible answer.

The human pulled out a ball and threw it at the unconscious Caterpie, and my eyes witnessed a terrible sight.

The Pokémon’s body was covered in red for a second, before it completely disappeared inside the ball. It rocked briefly, as I looked on in shock, and then the light vanished and the rocking stopped. Caterpie had been completely sucked inside by this ball. It was as if it was never there. I trembled.

The human let out a cheer, "All right we got it!"

"(Yeah!)" agreed the happy croc.

Happy? Why the heck would it be happy? It just beat the crap out of an insect for the sole purpose of it being sucked into oblivion?

What was it with everyone being happy over stuff I didn’t get?

This was something out of a nightmare. Could they do this to any Pokémon? Trap them in the abyss at will?

I was about to ask Leaf when the human tossed the ball, and lo and behold the Caterpie reappeared.

"Hello, little guy," started the human who was bending down to the bug’s level, "You’re my first Pokémon, well that I captured. Would ya like help me win along the way?"

The Caterpie simply shrugged and said, "(Yes.)"

If my jaw wasn't already on the ground from the previous events it sure would be now. Why would Caterpie agree to help someone who had just beat it up, and caught it in a thing that sent it into nothing? Caterpie didn't even know who this was... what possessed it to lose its mind? Not that Caterpie were known for their great minds to begin with, but this was like agreeing to hang out with a bird Pokémon. Maybe its brain was fried somewhere along the way...

"(It's the ball.)"

Leaf's voice abruptly shook me from my reverie. I turned to him in time to hear him say, "(If you're wondering what's going on, it's the ball. Or the power of the ball. I haven't seen a Pokémon yet that got sucked into that and didn't become subservient to a human.)"

My eyes widened in horror. "(You mean... That ball made it like that boy?)"

He shrugged. "(I dunno. My theory is that when Pokémon come out they do anything a human says since they don't want to go back in. I mean you gotta wonder what it's like to be... pulled out of the air.)"

This had suddenly gone from an adventure to find out what was making a strange scent, into a horror story that told tales of Pokémon being beaten, ripped from their homes, and trapped in an unimaginable place all so they could...

"(Why?)" I gulped. If... Well while I was at it I wanted to know the full truth.
"(Why else? He's going to get it to battle for him just like Totodile,)" Leaf stated matter of factly.

That was sick. Completely and utterly sick. The stench of meat sick. No way. No how. No one, and I mean no one was ever going to tell me what to do if I did not want to. No matter the consequences.

"All right guys! The Pokémon Center should be ahead. But lets see if I can find any more Pokémon along way. So Caterpie return!" He pulled out the ball, and sure enough that familiar red light came out sucking Caterpie back in again. "Totodile you too, I want to keep you fresh." and the croc was sucked back in by the light as well.

As the human turned away, I felt my shock and fear being replaced by anger. A lot of anger. I glared hard at the object of my fury, how dare he think he could come and take anyone he wished. If he wanted to battle, then let him battle himself. What a coward. Well then it was time to fight fire with fire. If he wanted to battle I would give him a battle. I would make sure he wouldn't use any of those cursed balls ever again. Nor would he want to after this lesson I was about to teach.

When his back turned I readied my energy in my leaf, preparing the razor sharp projectiles for the path they were about to take. As soon as he stood up, I fired.

Too bad they missed him by inches since Leaf chose the perfect opportunity to hit me in the shoulder.

"(What was that for!)" I shrieked.

"(Not now!)" he demanded.

"(I'm giving him a taste of his own medicine!)" I growled.

"(But then he can't battle!)" Leaf retaliated.

"(That's the point! If he can't take it, he shouldn't dish it out!)" Was Leaf nuts? Was he defending what we just saw?

"(Because it's like I said: The weak fall and the strong keep going. Humans only catch weakened Pokémon. If Caterpie was stronger or knew some better attacks then it wouldn't have been caught. How is it any different than it being caught by a Pidgey? In fact I think it might better off, since at least now it won't get eaten by the human,)" he explained.

"(But,)" I began but shut my mouth when nothing else came out. He had a point, but still... I couldn't bring myself to say it deserved it. Even if it did lose, did that mean it deserved to be eaten like if it had been caught by a Pidgey?

"(Now I'll show you how to really battle humans,)" Before I could say anything Leaf was running down the path after the boy.

Of course I followed him, but I ran in the bushes off the path, because I thought it would be good in case the human had any tricks up his sleeve.
It wasn't too much farther before Leaf was directly behind the boy, but couldn’t he sense him? In fact now that I thought about it, why hadn't he discovered us when we were yelling earlier? With all that noise couldn't he find us? Unless... Were humans that clueless?

We were about to find out.

Needless to say that when Leaf let his cry of "Chiko!" the boy spun around and his eyes lit up.

"Wow! Is that what I think it is?" he stopped to rub his eyes. "A Chikorita, just like the one at the lab. Now I'll have two starters!" he exclaimed in utter euphoria.

Leaf, I hope you know what you're doing.

Soon he pulled out one of those cursed balls and threw it. For a second I held my breath as it headed toward Leaf, but then it broke off that path and opened to reveal a white light...

...and Caterpie reappeared.

I fell over from the total insanity before me. Were humans that stupid? Hey, if you creamed it with your Totodile, then what makes you think it'll be better with a Chikorita?

Yet maybe the balls had some way of making Pokémon more powerful.

"All right, Caterpie, I want to test what you can do, okay? And try your best. Maybe you can take it down," he encouraged.

Or not.

The green bug nodded its head assuming a battle stance.

Too bad it never stood a chance.

Leaf tossed his head unleashing dozens of razor sharp leaves, taking a couple to tear across it before the insect fell backward to the ground with swirls in its eyes. Game over.

"Caterpie!"

Well that was uneventful. I was beginning to think Leaf was right about humans. They only caught weak Pokémon because that's all they could handle.

Meanwhile the boy stared blinking at the scene before him, until finally bringing out the ball to return Caterpie from whence it came. "Okay, so it's stronger than I thought," he mumbled. "Well then that just means I gotta bring my best, right?" Taking a deep breath he brought out another ball and let loose a cry of, "Go Totodile!"

When the blue crocodilian appeared I was wondering if this battle was going to last any longer than the last. Totodile was stronger than Caterpie, but was it stronger or weaker than forest Totodile because it was with a human? Leaf said that humans only caught weak Pokémon...

"Okay, Totodile, use Scratch!" the boy commanded.

The reptile leapt at Leaf, but he was too fast. Leaf dodged, immediately letting loose a torrent of leaves at the blue croc. Unlike Caterpie, it was still standing afterward, but not by much the way it was wavering.

The boy began to panic. "Totodile, Leer!"

The reptilian’s eyes lit up with its glare, as if all its energy was focused on its target. I could tell this one was more powerful than the one it used on Caterpie. Would it even make a difference though?

Leaf stood there as if nothing was wrong. If it did affect him I couldn’t tell.

"Now, Scratch!"

Leaf yawned and threw out his vines wrapping them around the little gator, then simply tossed it into a tree without even wasting a movement. He didn't even bother to look back.

"Totodile!" the boy shrieked in terror. He ran over and looked at it. "Don't worry, I'll get you to a Pokémon Center." The Pokémon muttered something with "Toto" but I couldn't make it out, and the boy put an end to it when he said, "Return." while holding out the ball. He promptly began to run to wherever that was he said.

Watching as the human ran into the distance I ran out of the bush. "(So that's how you battle humans?)

Leaf grinned. "(You betcha.)"

"(Are all their Pokémon wimps?)" I asked.

"(Depends. It's not my fault he was weak.)" He shrugged.

Little did he know his slip. "(Then why won't you battle me?)" I taunted.

He teased, "(I told you, it's complicated. But taking some time out to humiliate a kid is more of a game than a battle. Think of it like relaxation.)"

I snorted. "(A one armed Mankey could take out a human.)"

"(So are you gonna try?)" he dared.

"(What?)" Was he talking about me?

"(Yeah, I'm thinking maybe you could get a kick out of it. You seemed to wanna nail that kid so much earlier, and now that I've showed you how to take them on... why not? That'll give you something to do,)" he said.

"(I have plenty to do,)" I said with an air of defiance.

"(Like what?)" he sang out in mockery.

"(Like none of your business.)" I threw back.

"(It's better than this?)" he questioned.

"(Maybe...)" I drawled in arrogance.

He nodded. "(You're stalling for kicks. Why not kick their butts? I know you want to.)"

I shook my head. "(I'm not stalling about anything.)" But I was. "(But fine, I'll show you. I'll take on some humans and show them not to mess with us. Besides I need to get revenge for the other Pokémon anyway. I don't think anyone would like being told what to do.)"

The truth was, even if I'd never admit it, I was afraid of being caught. What if one of those humans decided to throw a cursed ball before the battle? What if I got stuck in a nightmare situation I couldn't escape? But the last part I said was true. I was still angry. Taking vengeance on the humans by beating their Pokémon would show them where they went wrong, right? It would make me feel better at least.

"(Have fun,)" he said in a sing-song voice.

"(Yeah, yeah,)" I answered back. I pondered just what I was getting myself into. But whatever it was I could handle it, right?

I could have waited until tomorrow, but it was probably better to get started now. And that was that.

So instead I headed back toward the forest. I knew I would probably find a human, and that bugged me in the sense that they would try to catch me, but I held firm. I would take on as many humans as I could, if only to release my frustration about the cursed balls anyway.

If I had looked back though I might have seen the smirk on Leaf's face as he turned and walked away.

---

I wandered around for the next day however just trying to figure out what to do next. Though I knew what I was going to do, I was going to find a human and battle one. The frustrating thing was there wasn't any around. Not giving up, as I was pretty irked about the cursed balls thing, still I wanted to prove myself. It was like a test; if I could win, it would prove what I already thought, and if I didn't ... well I didn't want to go there. So I found myself traveling down the Donphan path, and it just kept going and going. I was beginning to doubt if I would ever see another human. Or maybe the one I saw was a rare sight. But Leaf knew about them, so it couldn't be that rare. Maybe they came at certain parts of the moon's different cycles.

After several hours though there wasn't a single one to be found. At last I got fed up and started back toward the forest. No sooner than reaching a small pond did I hear a strange sound.

CLACK!

What was that?

Following the sound, my ears soon picked up on voices.

"Are you hungry, Flareon?"

"(Yes, I can't wait...)"

The second voice, most decidedly Pokémon, didn't interest me. It was the first one that made me smile. I did it. I finally found one.

Coming to the edge of the woods, I caught a glimpse of it. The human was different than the last one I had seen. It had long brown hair coming down from its head. White covered its upper body, and its arms were much more exposed. Its legs however were completely covered with the blue. And its feet were white.

The red little canine with the big ears that waited anxiously in front of it yelped its agreement. Judging by the way the human's voice was higher, my guess was that it was a girl. Anyway the girl stopped fiddling with the white thing she had draped in her arms, and reached down to pet the yellow tuft on top of Flareon's head, as it wagged its matching tail in excitement.

The girl eventually brought out a bunch of food from that “basket” thing she had. It was all I could do not to go out and challenge them to a battle immediately for that, because gosh the smell was incredible. But I waited, as I wanted to see if she kept anymore Pokémon in her balls. Yet no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't see any of the balls anywhere.

Deciding finally that it was now or never, I came out of the bushes proclaiming my presence with a "Chika!"

The girl sputtered and choked a little on the food she was putting in her mouth in response. Her Pokémon’s reaction wasn't so comical, as it merely chose to sigh.

"It's a Pokémon," she finally got out, wiping her mouth with her hand.

"(Oh joy,)" muttered the Flareon. Her eyes gave me an annoyed glance. "(Did you have to bother us while we were eating?)"

Keeping my determined front, "(I came for a battle.)"

She looked away in distain. "(Then go somewhere else.)"

"(Why should I?)" I growled.

Giving me a glare she said, "(Because I'm not interested and I'm pretty sure neither is she.)" She nodded at the human. "(So just do us a favor and leave us alone.)

"(Are you afraid?)" I challenged.

"(Are you jealous?)" she replied.

"(Jealous? Why in the world would I be jealous?)" I sputtered in disbelief.

"(Because a lot of times wild Pokémon attack because they're jealous of human trained Pokémon. You don't like that I get cared for instead of living in the wild. I have companionship while you have to fend for yourself.)

Was she insane? Why on Earth did she think I would be jealous of her having a companion? Much less a human one. I could care less about what she had. I no longer had any reason to want anything as troublesome as that.

But inwardly my mind taunted that she hit a nerve. I shook my head. I had no use for my former childhood desires. I wasn't a kid anymore.

"(You've got to be kidding me! Like I want that. I think you're the one with issues,)" I retorted.

"(Well the last Pokémon we battled was jealous. It couldn't stand that I had someone.)“ she said simply, then added under her breath, "(No matter how much catching it was a mistake.)"

"(Just because it had problems with you doesn't mean I do,)" I grumbled in frustration.

"(Really?)" she sang, "(Then why do you want a battle?)"

“Because I want to battle a human trained Pokémon, but I'm not jealous in the least. Yeah, she'll believe that all right.” "(Because I want to.)"

"(That's not an ans-)

"Flareon? What does it want?" the girl questioned. During our whole conversation she had been quiet, just watching us. Shouldn't she have been trying to catch me?

"(She wants to battle us,)" Flareon said with a sigh.

"What?" The girl looked confused.

Then Flareon made some barking noises and jumped in front of the girl in a battle stance.

"Oh, it wants to battle?" she answered still unsure.

Flareon nodded and turned back to me. Meanwhile my jaw had dropped once again. She couldn't understand her? Humans couldn't understand Pokémon? But I could understand her perfectly fine. It didn't make any sense. I suppose it was just another mystery to add to humans, who were turning out to be confusing creatures.

The girl took a look at me and began, "Look, I'm sorry, but can you go somewhere else? We're not looking for a battle. I think it would be better for everybody if you would." She had said the last part with a hesitant tone.

I blinked. So this was it. Were they afraid of me? I looked back at them, the girl had something akin to worry in her eyes but it wasn't directed at me and Flareon? She just looked bored.

I was caught at a crossroads.

My thought process was broken when all of sudden the girl gasped and grabbed her back.

"Oh no. Not now. Stay in!" She was repeating the last phrase in a chant.
"(You've got to get out of here!)"

Looking away from the girl, my eyes went over to Flareon who was apparently screaming at me. "(What?)

"(There's going to be trouble! Now go!)" she yelled.

Huh? I glanced back at the girl who had taken her hand away from her back, and was now staring at her clinched fist... which was shaking.

"Chikorita, please you've got to get away! I can't hold in it much longer! Please!" She seemed terrified.

I started to back away, if only from confusion, when all of a sudden her hand erupted in a bright light. Her clinched fist was now open and in her hand lay a cursed ball. But I was watching more the light that materialized in front of me to form a lilac Pokémon.

"(I'm free!)" he yelled.

Before me stood a light purple dog thing who looked very different from Flareon. His eyes were white with small pupils, instead of the large black ones. He had short flat ears, and a black ring with these silver fang markings around his neck, and completely black ones around the top of his front paws. However the most interesting feature was his huge jaws, the lower one was even bigger than the top one, and it had huge fangs coming out of each end.
I also found it odd that he was standing upright. How did he not fall over with jaws that size?

"(Who was it that wanted to battle? Where are they? Tell me!)" he bellowed.

Steeling my nerves I stood up straight and said, "(I did.)"

"(You?)" He brought his eyes down to me. "(You're such a tasty little morsel. This'll be fun.)" He licked his chops.

"(This is none of your business! You shouldn’t have gotten out. Now get back in your ball before you start a fight,)" Flareon growled.

"(Who do you think you are?)" he grumbled turning to the glaring Flareon, "(Oh it's you, the annoying thing, maybe you want to leave me to my food lest I take a piece of you too.)"

"(You know I'll roast you long before that,)" she threatened.

Somehow the battle was no longer about me.

"Granbull! Return!" yelled the girl holding out the cursed ball. She looked determined, but even I could see the way she was quavering.

Granbull didn't find it very intimidating either. As soon as the red light came out he jumped to the side, in fact he kept jumping out of the way no matter how many times it came out. I also noticed he made his way closer and closer to her each time.

"(Nuisance! Leave me alone! You'll pay!)" and with that he lunged at her. The girl only stood there in fear. I wondered why she didn't jump out of the way or do something, but she seemed to be frozen in terror.

"(No! Look out! Get away!)" At the last second the Flareon rammed into his shoulder knocking him out of collision path with the girl. He skidded to a stop and grunted. Not missing a step he went after Flareon, but she easily dodged.

"(Stay away from her!)" she yelled letting loose a torrent of embers from her mouth.

I jerked. Something about that phrase seemed familiar, but I shook it off as soon as it came. This whole scene was quite weird to be honest. I thought Pokémon obeyed the humans once they got into the ball, but this Pokémon seemed quite content to rip the human girl to shreds. Now that I looked at her, I noticed amongst the cream skin was a number of scars on her arms. The terror in her eyes told me exactly where they came from too.

But then what was going on?

The Granbull stood up against the beating he was taking from Flareon. When she stopped he merely shook it off like it was nothing. They stood in a stand off.

"(Is that all?)"

"(I wasn't trying. I'll give you one more chance to go back in your ball. If you don't I'll release my full power,)" she said the threat with firm authority.

He merely laughed.

"(Your full power? Well then, who knows. But I've got a meal to eat that you've been distracting me from.)" The last part was said when he turned to me, and there was no doubt this would be no ordinary battle.

This was an end all, be all battle. Everything was on the line. I had had enough battles like this so I didn’t even flinch.

He made his way over to me. I could tell from the look in his eyes he was serious, this wasn’t a threat, as I knew that look all too well.

"(Now!)"

I jerked my head up in time to see the girl fumbling with the cursed ball after Flareon's cry. I saw that she was trying to get it back while it was distracted. Seeing as he was still looking at me and was now drooling it wasn't that hard a proposition.

"(Wait!)" I yelled and it brought their attention to me. "(Let me handle this. I want a battle, and he wants a battle, so I'll give him one, I'll give him a battle he’ll never forget.)

"(Are you nuts?!)" Flareon yelled. "(Do you know just what he's done? He's mauled Pokémon just like you, no he's torn them to shreds! He’s not right in the head. Normal Granbull aren’t that way. Their looks are fierce, but their temperament isn’t. He however loses complete control of himself. Once he starts he won’t be able to stop!)"

"(I know what he wants,)" I stated with a firm resolution. "(I wouldn't be a wild Pokémon if I didn't. He's not the first and certainly won't be the last.)"
That caused Flareon to be taken aback.

"(You have got to fight at times. I don't have anyone to save me except for myself. Sometimes you've just gotta set the record straight.)" Nodding in determination I answered what was the truth.

"Flareon? What did it say?" The girl looked expectantly at her, still holding the cursed ball out.

"(She said she wanted to battle him,)" she shrugged. Her body language said it enough. The girl put the ball back.

"We can always return him if it gets too rough," she said, though it didn't look like she believed it.

"(Yeah,)" Flareon's dubious voice told me she didn't either.

I didn’t care what they thought. I didn’t care what Granbull thought. Heck at that point I didn’t care what anyone thought.

All I wanted to do is battle, and prove myself once and for all.

I didn't have to wait either. Granbull was flying through the air before I knew it. I had to be ready.

Dodging his attack I tossed some leaves at his back. But that didn't even faze him as he turned around lunging once again. I decided to whip him with my vines.

Big mistake.

I thwacked his shoulder, but he reached his right paw over to grab it. Before I could even pull it away I had gotten caught in his grasp. I jerked as hard as I could, yet could only watch as he took his other paw and held it more firmly in his grasp. I thought about hurling leaves at his eyes, but I never had a chance to. The next thing I knew he took the vines between his paws and brought them up to his massive jaws. I grimaced as he clamped down.

"(Ahhhhhhhhh!)" I screamed. It was like they were trapped in between two rocks. It was horrible.

In agony I tried to throw my body into him, but it didn't do a thing. He continued to stand there as if he were smiling at me. I jerked, but they didn't come out and it only made it hurt worse.

Eventually I saw through the pain enough to bring my vines out even farther, because he just had the ends in his mouth, and twisted them around in a loop from his mouth around his back and then his front. Pulling as hard I could I jerked him forward, and because he wasn't expecting it he fell forward.
As soon as his jaw hit the ground he loosened his grip. I pulled them out of there as fast as possible. Withdrawing them into my body, I tried to ignore the aching, as I would have to figure out another way without risking him grabbing them again.

He got to his feet soon enough, lunging at me once more. This was getting old. He was too slow to catch me, but nothing I threw at him seemed to work. I guess I needed to formulate a strategy. There had to be a weakness, there just had to.

I had it!

I backed away from him, but never turned my head, and ran toward the trees. Naturally he followed me, attempting to attack again and again. But the closer I got into the forest the harder it was for him to maneuver. He didn't seem to notice however, continuing to go after me every chance he got. Finally I felt my foot back up into a tree. I waited for him to jump...

...and ducked while he flew into it.

What I wasn't counting on was for him to crash right through it. It wasn't a very big tree, and I hadn't even looked at before I tried that trick. Now he was getting up for more.

What now?

Seeing a nearby rock I made a beeline for it. It was just big enough for me to get my body around while I planned my next move. There had to be a way to beat him.

"(Now you're hiding from me?!)" he called out.

"(Never!)" I replied in error.

He ran with all his speed toward me, or my voice, even resorting to going on all fours. I held my ground, for if I didn't know what to do I still wouldn't back down.

Deciding to hide no more I jumped in front of the rock, I would face my fate eye to eye. Yet that was when it came to me, and I knew what to do. He was going so fast, that even if I couldn't trick him again I could get him into position. When he got just close enough I let some leaves fly directly at his feet, though being on all fours he jumped over them with ease.

Which was exactly what I wanted, as I jumped out of the way a second later, and he attempted to turn in response. But since he was in the air when his front to paws landed, he skidded and lost control. His journey was stopped when his jaw of all things hit the rock and knocked him out.

I had made the mistake myself as turning sharply when landing was almost always going to send you skidding. Though the fact that I had turned this into a strategy at the last second left me feeling slightly euphoric. Who could have thought something so simple could have been the key?

I had done it. I had beaten him, and I had also learned a valuable lesson. I didn't need brute strength to win, not when I had my brain. Even though I already knew that, it became so much more real at that moment.

As I watched him lay there, I knew that even though not one of my attacks had been able to affect him, I had won anyway because of how I used them. The thought came to mind that if I concentrated on that from now on then I could take anybody down. So as the excitement flowed through my body, I could begin to imagine what would happen the next time I saw those Mankey.

That was also when I heard the girl and Flareon come running through the trees from the sound they heard when he hit the rocks.

Their jaws seemed to drop when they saw him laying there. I could only smile.

"It beat Granbull," the girl whispered.

"(Well I'll be,)" Flareon mumbled in agreement.

They were staring at me oddly, which was understandable, I guess they hadn't been able to take him down themselves. Though now that I think about it, weren't human trained Pokémon supposed to be weak? That's what Leaf said, but he wasn't weak at all. Maybe Leaf hadn't battled as many human trained Pokémon as I thought. Or maybe he had lied.

Either way I knew I would be getting answers later.

The girl started to walk up to me, and now she was smiling. I began to subconsciously back up, but she stopped when she saw she was making me uncomfortable. She started to speak, "You're really strong, well a lot stronger than I thought. Well, I was wondering..." she trailed off and bit her lip, "I challenge you to a battle. You wanted one right? Well now you're gonna get one. Is that okay?"

Like I was going to say no. I nodded knowing she wouldn't understand anything else.

"Okay, but here's the deal," she stopped and brought out a cursed ball, "If I win, you come with me. If you win then you can leave. It's up to you. Your choice."

I stared hard at the cursed ball in her hand. I knew this was it. The moment I had been waiting for, and surprised myself even by not feeling any worry when I let out a "Chika!" in agreement.

"(Are you sure?)" Flareon voiced her concern, though it was directed at the girl rather than me. She motioned with her paw to accentuate what she meant.

"Don't worry. If I catch it, then it can help us with Granbull. And it can be a big boost to our team," she whispered to the fire fox, but little did she know my sharp hearing picked up every word. Didn't matter. I didn't care what her motives were, it came down to the battle anyway

"(If you say so,)" she shrugged in response.

The girl called out to me in a much more determined voice than she had used with Granbull, "You ready?"

"Chika!" I cried and got into my battle stance.

"Go Flareon!"

Sure enough the red and yellow fox jumped in front of me. Something told me this was going to be a different kind of battle than the last one. But with my skills, and as long as I had a plan I would win, right?

"Flareon, use Ember!" she screamed.

Once she opened her mouth I had already began to dodge. What I didn't expect though was that she followed me, that is the embers followed me. I found myself continuing to run as she spayed the field with them. They were everywhere it seemed like. Somehow she was firing, and changing direction at the same time.

Ducking behind a tree to catch my breath, I didn't even get the opportunity to. I just barely caught the flash of red from my peripheral vision to dodge around the trunk before she blasted where I had just been. She was everywhere I went, and with a sickening realization, I figured out that speed wouldn't help me this time.

I had to get back to the pond. Water was her enemy, and the clearing would at least let me see her movements. Taking a chance I ran off in that direction as fast as possible.

"(Too slow!)"

The yell made me look to my right to see her match me step for step. I gulped. She tried to open her mouth, but I took a sharp turn to the left. Since she was on the outside she slid trying to make the sharp turn, and I put some distance between us.

Or so I thought.

Suddenly another stream of burning embers shot out in front of me. My attempt to dodge had me jumping to my right. Of course then there was that now familiar flash of red as she took the opportunity to pounce. In desperation I jerked my body to the ground to skid painfully on my side. I just felt the fuzzy feeling of her fur as she passed me. In that second we met eye to eye, and I knew she intended to turn on me as soon as she hit the ground.

I couldn't wait for that. Scrambling to my feet I ran as if everything depended on it, which it did, to that pond. Embers or no, I just had to get there. Of course they came. I soon felt the burning hits when they seared across my skin, even though I was trying hard to run in a zigzag pattern.

It finally ended when I got to the pond and dove in. Splashing around for a bit to get back to the surface, I made it close enough to shore to stand, but still be able to duck if attacked.

"(Well, wanna come in?)" I dared to the Fire type. Maybe if I could just get her in the water...

"(Of course,)" she replied to my shock, promptly diving in.

I attempted to get back to the deeper part, but it was nothing doing. For a Fire type she was a darn good swimmer. I gaped at the way she made her way in front of me without a problem.

"(Surprised?)" she asked.

I merely nodded.

"(Well then, you shouldn't assume on type what I can and can't do,)" she stated.

She was right, I knew she was right. That was the mistake most Pok&#233;mon made with me. Now here I was making the same mistake.

"Flareon!" cried the girl who was panting from catching up to us. She stood on the edge, and I could only wonder what she was going to call out next.

"Bite!"

That was bad.

I couldn't send my vines after that last stunt, so taking a risk I tossed leaves at her, which were promptly roasted by another ember.

What was worse was in that second she disappeared.

Panicking I tried to swim toward the edge, but found myself getting thrown by something coming out of the water. The whirling chaos was painfully stopped as teeth clamped down on my leaf.

I didn't even have time to scream as I was pulled under.

She was jerking and thrashing me underwater in an attempt to make me swallow water and give up. But I wasn't going to do that even though my body was screaming at me to do something quick. If she could thrash, so could I, so throwing out my vines frantically I finally hit something and wrapped it around her. Now it was her turn to panic, since she couldn't move she began to sink. But since she also clamped down on my leaf she bit even harder. I didn't make a move to let go, but keeping my mouth shut was another story.

With us both sinking to the bottom, it became a test of wills. Who would let go first? That was the question.

She didn't want to wait apparently, and quickly released her grip.

Grinning inwardly at my victory, I tried to release her and get to the surface. To my shock and horror however, I saw an orange glow coming from her mouth. Frantically I tired to kick to the surface. No more than I had my head above water to gasp the air than a scalding hot rush of water that threw me out of the pond entirely.

When I hit the dirt my body was frozen from the pain. Hot water could hurt just as much as fire. But how in the world did she get a fire attack off in the water?

"Flareon, you're okay!" I heard the girl cry in relief, well for her anyway, watching the Pok&#233;mon climb onto shore was anything but relief for me.

I tried to get up, but my body wouldn’t respond. I couldn't let it end this way! There had to be something I could do.

Smirking the Flareon walked up to me, and I heard a call of, "Fire Spin!" from the girl. This was it, the finale to everything, and I would end up in a cursed ball if I didn't do something quick. But what?

I closed my eyes as she unleashed the flames. The heat surrounded me. But surprisingly the fire hadn't yet touched my skin. Opening my eyes I saw a circle of flames all around me. Then I noticed that she was somehow controlling them to the point where the bottom of circle was hitting the dirt in front of me, and the top was swirling above my head before hitting the dirt behind me.

But why?

Quickly the flames started to close, and I saw that I was caught in the vortex. The idea was for me to watch as I was encircled with flames, and burned like a leaf. Well I wasn't going to stand for that. I wasn't going to just watch myself get roasted.

The flames swirled more and more, and I looked at my opponent. There was no way to get to her. If I moved I would get hit, my leaves would get burned, and so would my vines. But there had to be a way. Of the three the only one viable was the vines, and I had to avoid the swinging ring of fire.

But there wasn't a way. The flames were swirling back and forth so fast they would get hit when I hit her. Yet I myself was about to feel their pain. Maybe if could hit her eyes in one hit, I could take the burns. It was my only chance.

When I saw the swirling flames just before they closed in, it was like they were guiding me right to her. The way to win was right in front of me, as she was the target right in the center, and there was no room for error. Focusing only on what I had to hit I shot my vines out keeping the tips as close together as possible. I couldn't risk them veering out. I wouldn't get another shot.

As I felt the strike I held my breath.

I had missed.

In that split second instead of feeling the softness of the eyes, I felt the hardness of the head.

But a cry interrupted my panic.

"(Ahh!)"

The flames had abruptly stopped as Flareon hit the ground rolling. I watched in amazement as she stopped and lay limp. She was unconscious maybe, I couldn’t tell exactly because of the whimpers. What had happened? Had I really just knocked her out with one hit?

"Flareon!" I heard the girl's scream and glanced at her rushing over to the spot. She cradled the fallen Pok&#233;mon in her arms, and it was hard to believe that this was the ruthless, unstoppable Pok&#233;mon I was just battling.

Finally feeling my own pain subside, curiosity got the better of me and I made my way over. I looked up and down, and yet couldn’t figure out what happened. I just hit her once so how… ?

I saw it.

There on Flareon's head, on the spot between her eyes, was a gash that was beginning to bleed. But still one hit did this? Maybe it had to do with where it hit.

I looked down at my vines in wonder. Did I really hold that much power? Or had I found an incredible secret weapon?

"Chikorita."

I glanced up at the mention of my name. The girl was staring at me, and I waited for her to begin, "You won. So I guess you can go now. Besides I don't think I could handle a Pok&#233;mon as strong as you, I have enough problems as it is." She gave a melancholy laugh.

I looked on as she returned Flareon to the ball and hurried to gather up the picnic and leave. After she left I was still on that side of the forest. I had a lot to think about.

---

It was few days later when I ran across Leaf again. I wanted answers about his “they only catch weak Pok&#233;mon” and a battle as well.

"(How did it go?)” he said as soon as he saw me.

"(Oh it went well,)” I stated with a bit of sarcasm.

"(What happened? Did you ever find a human? Sometimes they don't come around,)" he asked with curiosity.

"(Yeah, I found a human. Are you surprised I came back? Or did you care either way?)" I accused.

"(What?)" He looked quite confused.

"(Because you set me up that's why! You said human trained Pok&#233;mon were weak. Well guess what? They’re not! And unlike your wussy Caterpie and Totodile I actually won a battle,)" I ranted.

He blinked. "(So you had a tough time?)"

"(Well I actually had competition,)" I grumbled.

"(Sometimes that happens, and I never said they were weak, but that they caught weakened Pok&#233;mon, as I was explaining what happened with Caterpie, They can catch strong Pok&#233;mon, but they have to weaken them first.)” he explained quickly. “(Maybe you got something out of it. Nothing like a good battle to jog the brain.)" he commented nonchalantly.

Now that I thought about what he said…

"(Something came out of it all right,)" I began. "(Maybe you’d like to find out. I challenge you to a battle.)"

He sighed, "(Oh man. Look I told you-)"

"(Things are different now! Trust me, this will be a match you won't forget. And why not take the chance to get stronger?)" I lured him in, if only he would take the bait.

"(Well, if you want to get your butt kicked so early in the morning, then who am I to say no? I've got nothing else to do anyway. I like a good warm up.)" He took it, and I grinned.

I got into my battle position as did he. Deciding to start this match off in the most unexpected way I charged. Hey, it was part of my plan.

"(Oh not this again.)" He rolled his eyes. Throwing out his vines normally, I dodged in a swift move. I had been expecting that. I also took the opportunity to toss some leaves his way, which he ducked under.

Just when I got close enough he flinched, and I made my move. His vines were already flying out in the sweep, but mine were going in a straight line. Guess which was faster?

"(Ahhhhhhh!)" He screamed in agony. I had sent them to the same spot as I had on Flareon, right between the eyes.

When I watched him hit the dirt, I smiled. This time he was eating it. I knew if I was able to pull this off, then the way to beat his sweep was to literally beat it.

I heard him groan from the ground. A tad of worry touched into me. I hadn't really hurt him that badly had I?

"(Um, Leaf?)" I asked in concern.

He was still clutching his head, but I head him grunt, "(Wha-what did you do?)"

"(It was my new attack,)" I explained. "(I found a way to beat my opponents just like you said. And now I've even beaten you.)"

He staggered to his feet, still looking like he was in a daze, and his eyes were narrowed. Next he started to stumble away. I couldn't figure out why.

"(Leaf? Where are you going?)" I asked.

"(I've, I've got to get away,)" he moaned and tried to jog off.

"(Get away? From what exactly? Me?)" I queried. Why did he want to run? Was he scared of me or something?

"(Leave me alone,)" he mumbled, finally making his way farther into the forest.

"(Okay,)" I said. Was my attack that bad? Either way, beating Leaf hadn't turned out the way I had thought.

---

I didn't see Leaf for the next few weeks. But I had heard about more and more humans being around the edges of the forest. The Pok&#233;mon there were telling stories that a lot battles had gone on recently, more than even they were used to. Every time I tried find out where these battles were they had already gone on hours before, leaving only the chaos behind.

With each one I was sure I was picking up the same familiar scent though. The only question was why Leaf was battling all these humans all of a sudden?

One day I finally got a break. There were the sounds of explosions going off in the distance, and I followed them until I found what I had been looking for.

There was Leaf.

He was battling some kind of strange Pok&#233;mon. It was blue on top with a yellow under bottom and snout. There were flames coming out of its head and the lower part of its body. Behind the Pok&#233;mon was a human with bright blue hair, and black circles over his eyes. Judging by the way Leaf was struggling to stay up it wasn't hard to figure out who was winning.

"Quilava! Flamethrower!" he commanded.

No sooner had the order time to reach the air than the river of fire engulfed Leaf.

"(Leaf!)" I called out despite myself.

When it was over all that was left was his burned body lying on the ground. He was trying to move, I could see that, but it was no use. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't get up.

But still I pleaded in my mind. He had to get up. He just had to. If he didn't then his fate was.... Not that!

My worst nightmare played out before my eyes. The boy tossed the cursed ball at Leaf, and I looked on in horror as the red light enveloped him. When he disappeared inside I pleaded with the shaking ball to let him go.

But to no avail.

The ball stopped rocking and the light went off. It was over. Leaf now belonged to them.

"(No!)" I screamed. It couldn't be true, it just couldn't. Leaf was too strong to be caught by the likes of a human, but still now here it was.

"Hmm, it's another Chikorita," the boy said.

In my anger I had let myself come out of the bush, but I didn't care. I was ready to do battle. Even if I couldn't save Leaf I could at least get revenge.

I waited for him to call out to his Quilava, but instead he threw out another ball, "Go Smeargle!" and this brown thingy that was standing on two legs and holding its tail in its hand appeared.

"I've already got this Chikorita that all the trainers have been talking about terrorizing the trail. If this one is half as strong it'll be a mess, and I don't want to have to go to the Pok&#233;mon Center so soon. I'll try running."

Who was he talking to?

"Okay, Smeargle, use Hypnosis!" he yelled.

I tried to get out of the way, yet it still hit me. As the world began to sway, I struggled to remain upright. It was a loosing battle as the darkness of sleep came over my vision.

---

When I awoke, everyone was gone. I was lying alone in the middle of the path with no sign of anyone around. What happened?

Leaf! Leaf was caught! And I was attacked by that strange Pok&#233;mon!

With my memories returned in a flash I had to get out of there. There was no way I was going to let him get away that easy. That kid was going to pay for this.

Tearing off down the pathway I was determined to find them.

Leaf had been the only Pok&#233;mon I had talked to in forever. I wasn’t going to let this end, and I wasn’t going to lose somebody else. Never again, I wouldn’t wait in the thicket anymore.

---

It wasn't that long before I found them actually, see the problem was getting the right opportunity. I made up my mind to figure out a way to beat the ball once and for all. No more would I allow a Pok&#233;mon to be taken like that.

Though my plan involved me watching that kid day after day, battle after battle, on and on until I felt like I was going to go nuts, I wouldn’t give up. I found out some interesting things in all that time. Humans didn't just take Pok&#233;mon, they used them to battle other humans and their Pok&#233;mon. In fact that seemed to be like a game.

For the humans battling wasn’t a struggle, but a sport. The Pok&#233;mon involved never seemed to get serious injuries, since they weren’t pushed that far. They only went until one was knocked out, and went on to the next, or called it over.

The boy himself went so far as to carry special healing herbs and ointments to restore his Pok&#233;mon after battles. He fed them a certain type of food, groomed them, and played with them in his spare time. So this was probably why Flareon thought I was jealous. Little did she know it would take a lot more than that for me to cave.

My anger boiled again when what I was dreading happened. The day he called out Leaf to battle. It burned my eyes to watch him fight under someone's orders. I swore to find a way to help him. There had to be a way to escape.

Then one night my opportunity finally came. The boy didn't leave his Quilava out for the night like he had been doing. This was my chance.

Watching him as his yellow top and brown bottom remained still with the exception of his snores, I kept my eye on the sleeping boy as I snuck into the camp. There was no room for error.

I crept quietly into the grass, making sure no twigs were in my way to make a sound or trip me up. When I finally got close to his backpack, that's what he called it anyway, I breathed a sigh of relief. Even though I was just a few feet away from him I was not worried. Once I got what I was looking for it would be mission accomplished.

Rooting around the edge of it I found that thing he used to open it and pulled. It worked just like it did when he did it. Then I dug around inside when my vines caught hold of exactly what I was looking for, and its scent confirmed it.

I ran back into the forest with my new found gains.

Getting behind a tree, and looking back to see him still asleep, I pushed the button to open. Sure enough that white light appeared and someone materialized in front of me. I could only smile.

"(Leaf!)" I cried.

He yawned. "(What are you doing here?)"

"(What do you mean? I'm here to get you out of here. Then we can take down that kid in battle.)" I explained in a hurried rush.

"(What?)" he looked confused.

"(Now what are you waiting for? Come on!)"

I was in a hurry, that kid could wake up any minute. Taking the cue I began to run, but I noticed I wasn't being followed. Stopping, I started back, about to ask him what he was doing when he said, "I'm not going."

"(What? What do mean you're not going?! You can escape now!)" I yelled.

"(I don't want to,)" he stated flatly.

I growled, "(It's the power of the ball, isn't it? It's making you want to stay. Am I right?)" I walked over to the cursed ball in disgust.

"(No, it's not the ball. I found out it's not the ball that breaks Pok&#233;mon, not the strong ones anyway, it's the people,)" he elaborated.

"(So it's that boy? How can you let yourself listen to him anyway?)" I accused.

"(I don't,)" he said smugly.

"(What?)"

"(Yeah, that's right. Humans actually do everything in their power to make Pok&#233;mon stronger. I didn't think I needed that, but when I realized I wasn't getting good enough I made my decision,)" he said as though it was an epiphany.

"(What? You can't be saying what I think you're saying,)" I stuttered.

"(That I let myself be caught on purpose?)" he supplied.

That revelation absolutely left me stunned. How could he? How could anyone sink that low?

"(Why?)" I whispered, even though I was sure I wasn't going to like the answer.

All he did was use his vines to point to a faint scar I could just make out in the moonlight.... on his forehead.

"(What?)" I choked. He wasn't saying that...

But suddenly he glanced at me, and I didn't even have to hear his next words. "(It was when I lost to you.)"

Any confusion or betrayal I was feeling at the moment was pushed to the back of my mind. "(What does that have to do with anything?)" I hissed. I knew though. But I was daring him to say it.

"(When I lost to you I realized how little I had gained. I wiped the floor with you in our first battle. Heck you were getting creamed by Mankey before that. It was easy as pie. Then you show up a few days later and knocked me out in one hit, how do you think that makes me feel? Like everything I did was worthless? Like I let myself get humiliated by a Pok&#233;mon with the same exact powers none the less?)" he sounded so angry.

"(Is that what you think? Is that what you really think? Maybe your problem is you underestimated me. Maybe your problem is that you think you can do no wrong. Maybe your problem is that you don't learn from the battles. Maybe your problem is that if you think so lowly of me, then what do you say about the mess you're in now?)"

"(No, it’s not you. It’s me! You won, I lost, and that is the point. The fact is you deserved to win, and because of that I realized that if I really wanted to get stronger then I needed to go about it a different way. This kid can make me stronger. He can help me achieve what I want to. Humans go out of their way to make Pok&#233;mon get more powerful. It’s perfect.)"

It took everything I had not to hit him then. The only reason I didn't was to let everything that was on my mind out. "(So you sold yourself out?! You sold yourself to a human?! So you can be his battler?!)" I cried.

"(So he can make me stronger I just said. What’s your problem anyway? It’s really not bad. The Pok&#233;mon I’m fighting now are twice as strong. But the whole point is so they can give me their power, and I them.)" He shrugged.

Even after everything I was floored. He was just abandoning everything? Didn’t he stand for something other than power? Didn’t he care? Didn’t he care about anything else? "(That is so low, I don't know where to begin,)" I snarled.

"(Then don't,)" His eyes stared into mine. "(You obviously don’t understand, even though I thought you would,)” he sighed. “(Just go home and do your thing and let me do mine.)"

"(You don’t stand for anything, do you?)" I accused. With everything that happened I was so angry I was beginning to lose control. Looking back maybe I should have thought more on my reaction beforehand.

"(What?)"

"(You know, when you kept saying that you wanted to get stronger? Don’t you want to do it your way? Instead you’re just having someone give it to you, so then it’s not your power is it?)" The accusation hung in the air.

"(Yes it is,)" he said calmly. "(I don’t care either way. It’s mine once I get it right?)"

"(You, you, you Chikarika!)" I screamed. How could he? Just how could he? My eyes began to water in anger. Once again I felt like I had been lied to.

"(Now, now, such nasty words are uncalled for,)" he muttered. "(Look I know the truth hurts, but you've got to move on. You've got things to do and so do I.)"

With that he began to walk away.

Though he didn't make it far before my vines hit his back knocking him back into the clearing.

I waited for him to call out to his Quilava, but instead he threw out another ball, "Go Smeargle!" and this brown thingy that was standing on two legs and holding its tail in its hand appeared.

"I've already got this Chikorita that all the trainers have been talking about terrorizing the trail. If this one is half as strong it'll be a mess, and I don't want to have to go to the Pok&#233;mon Center so soon. I'll try running."

Who was he talking to?

"Okay, Smeargle, use Hypnosis!" he yelled.

I tried to get out of the way, yet it still hit me. As the world began to sway, I struggled to remain upright. It was a loosing battle as the darkness of sleep came over my vision.

---

When I awoke, everyone was gone. I was lying alone in the middle of the path with no sign of anyone around. What happened?

Leaf! Leaf was caught! And I was attacked by that strange Pok&#233;mon!

With my memories returned in a flash I had to get out of there. There was no way I was going to let him get away that easy. That kid was going to pay for this.

Tearing off down the pathway I was determined to find them.

Leaf had been the only Pok&#233;mon I had talked to in forever. I wasn’t going to let this end, and I wasn’t going to lose somebody else. Never again, I wouldn’t wait in the thicket anymore.

---

It wasn't that long before I found them actually, see the problem was getting the right opportunity. I made up my mind to figure out a way to beat the ball once and for all. No more would I allow a Pok&#233;mon to be taken like that.

Though my plan involved me watching that kid day after day, battle after battle, on and on until I felt like I was going to go nuts, I wouldn’t give up. I found out some interesting things in all that time. Humans didn't just take Pok&#233;mon, they used them to battle other humans and their Pok&#233;mon. In fact that seemed to be like a game.

For the humans battling wasn’t a struggle, but a sport. The Pok&#233;mon involved never seemed to get serious injuries, since they weren’t pushed that far. They only went until one was knocked out, and went on to the next, or called it over.

The boy himself went so far as to carry special healing herbs and ointments to restore his Pok&#233;mon after battles. He fed them a certain type of food, groomed them, and played with them in his spare time. So this was probably why Flareon thought I was jealous. Little did she know it would take a lot more than that for me to cave.

My anger boiled again when what I was dreading happened. The day he called out Leaf to battle. It burned my eyes to watch him fight under someone's orders. I swore to find a way to help him. There had to be a way to escape.

Then one night my opportunity finally came. The boy didn't leave his Quilava out for the night like he had been doing. This was my chance.

Watching him as his yellow top and brown bottom remained still with the exception of his snores, I kept my eye on the sleeping boy as I snuck into the camp. There was no room for error.

I crept quietly into the grass, making sure no twigs were in my way to make a sound or trip me up. When I finally got close to his backpack, that's what he called it anyway, I breathed a sigh of relief. Even though I was just a few feet away from him I was not worried. Once I got what I was looking for it would be mission accomplished.

Rooting around the edge of it I found that thing he used to open it and pulled. It worked just like it did when he did it. Then I dug around inside when my vines caught hold of exactly what I was looking for, and its scent confirmed it.

I ran back into the forest with my new found gains.

Getting behind a tree, and looking back to see him still asleep, I pushed the button to open. Sure enough that white light appeared and someone materialized in front of me. I could only smile.

"(Leaf!)" I cried.

He yawned. "(What are you doing here?)"

"(What do you mean? I'm here to get you out of here. Then we can take down that kid in battle.)" I explained in a hurried rush.

"(What?)" he looked confused.

"(Now what are you waiting for? Come on!)"

I was in a hurry, that kid could wake up any minute. Taking the cue I began to run, but I noticed I wasn't being followed. Stopping, I started back, about to ask him what he was doing when he said, "I'm not going."

"(What? What do mean you're not going?! You can escape now!)" I yelled.

"(I don't want to,)" he stated flatly.

I growled, "(It's the power of the ball, isn't it? It's making you want to stay. Am I right?)" I walked over to the cursed ball in disgust.

"(No, it's not the ball. I found out it's not the ball that breaks Pok&#233;mon, not the strong ones anyway, it's the people,)" he elaborated.

"(So it's that boy? How can you let yourself listen to him anyway?)" I accused.

"(I don't,)" he said smugly.

"(What?)"

"(Yeah, that's right. Humans actually do everything in their power to make Pok&#233;mon stronger. I didn't think I needed that, but when I realized I wasn't getting good enough I made my decision,)" he said as though it was an epiphany.

"(What? You can't be saying what I think you're saying,)" I stuttered.

"(That I let myself be caught on purpose?)" he supplied.

That revelation absolutely left me stunned. How could he? How could anyone sink that low?

"(Why?)" I whispered, even though I was sure I wasn't going to like the answer.

All he did was use his vines to point to a faint scar I could just make out in the moonlight.... on his forehead.

"(What?)" I choked. He wasn't saying that...

But suddenly he glanced at me, and I didn't even have to hear his next words. "(It was when I lost to you.)"

Any confusion or betrayal I was feeling at the moment was pushed to the back of my mind. "(What does that have to do with anything?)" I hissed. I knew though. But I was daring him to say it.

"(When I lost to you I realized how little I had gained. I wiped the floor with you in our first battle. Heck you were getting creamed by Mankey before that. It was easy as pie. Then you show up a few days later and knocked me out in one hit, how do you think that makes me feel? Like everything I did was worthless? Like I let myself get humiliated by a Pok&#233;mon with the same exact powers none the less?)" he sounded so angry.

"(Is that what you think? Is that what you really think? Maybe your problem is you underestimated me. Maybe your problem is that you think you can do no wrong. Maybe your problem is that you don't learn from the battles. Maybe your problem is that if you think so lowly of me, then what do you say about the mess you're in now?)"

"(No, it’s not you. It’s me! You won, I lost, and that is the point. The fact is you deserved to win, and because of that I realized that if I really wanted to get stronger then I needed to go about it a different way. This kid can make me stronger. He can help me achieve what I want to. Humans go out of their way to make Pok&#233;mon get more powerful. It’s perfect.)"

It took everything I had not to hit him then. The only reason I didn't was to let everything that was on my mind out. "(So you sold yourself out?! You sold yourself to a human?! So you can be his battler?!)" I cried.

"(So he can make me stronger I just said. What’s your problem anyway? It’s really not bad. The Pok&#233;mon I’m fighting now are twice as strong. But the whole point is so they can give me their power, and I them.)" He shrugged.

Even after everything I was floored. He was just abandoning everything? Didn’t he stand for something other than power? Didn’t he care? Didn’t he care about anything else? "(That is so low, I don't know where to begin,)" I snarled.

"(Then don't,)" His eyes stared into mine. "(You obviously don’t understand, even though I thought you would,)” he sighed. “(Just go home and do your thing and let me do mine.)"

"(You don’t stand for anything, do you?)" I accused. With everything that happened I was so angry I was beginning to lose control. Looking back maybe I should have thought more on my reaction beforehand.

"(What?)"

"(You know, when you kept saying that you wanted to get stronger? Don’t you want to do it your way? Instead you’re just having someone give it to you, so then it’s not your power is it?)" The accusation hung in the air.

"(Yes it is,)" he said calmly. "(I don’t care either way. It’s mine once I get it right?)"

"(You, you, you Chikarika!)" I screamed. How could he? Just how could he? My eyes began to water in anger. Once again I felt like I had been lied to.

"(Now, now, such nasty words are uncalled for,)" he muttered. "(Look I know the truth hurts, but you've got to move on. You've got things to do and so do I.)"

With that he began to walk away.

Though he didn't make it far before my vines hit his back knocking him back into the clearing.

---

Thinking back now I could only ponder what happened to Leaf. Goodness knew I still disliked him even now. Not just because of what he said to me, but the way he wanted power. Even though I wanted to be strong myself, I knew now that what I wanted and what he wanted were two different things. He wanted power no matter what the cost to himself and others.

While I on the other hand wanted to be strong for myself, as it was the best way to hold to my spirit and personality.

It was so frustrating that he was right about that.

Leaf had been willing to sell his soul to gain power. That in the end was his problem, whether he knows it or not. His desire was also his fault, so ironic.

That was why I pushed away my own desires, I couldn’t let it blind me like it did him. Was the joy worth the risk? Even if it meant never truly being happy?
What was the point in asking such questions? I knew it wouldn’t come true anyway.

Though everything that happened was also the end to my perceptions about the world as well. Never again did I limit myself to what I saw. There had to be more out there than what I had been shown about the world. There just had to. Ever since then, no matter how much I pushed it away, that feeling that there had to be more to life than this lingered.

I had no purpose.

That was just it. What was I? Just some Chikorita that was meant to battle and battle, eat, sleep, and repeat the cycle until she was replaced by the next one?

I wanted more. I wanted more than what this forest had to offer. I yearned for something out there that I didn't even comprehend.

The last time I was fulfilled was when I slept next to those lilac leaves taking in the sweet scent as a child, and that all went away in an instant.

What hurt so much about Leaf was that in all the time I had spent out here he was the only Pok&#233;mon I ever really talked to. I thought I had found someone like me. Someone I could finally relate to.

In a way I had thought I found an acquaintance… No, to be honest with myself he was the closest thing I ever had to a friend.

That’s another reason why I was so angry over what he did. Obviously he never saw it that way.

I guess I was wrong again. I never met anybody like me.

Was I meant to be alone? The one thing I would never admit I yearned for -- just to know that I wasn’t the only soul who cared about fate.

“Cared about my fate,” was what my younger self would have thought. Slowly as I got older I had to let go of such futile thoughts. The world didn’t care. It never would, as was the game of life.

But still, there had to be someone out there who was different. Someone out there I could truly relate to, or maybe they could relate to me in a way that I would know that I wasn’t the only one to entertain such thoughts.

Maybe I truly was different, so different that I never would find a kindred spirit in this world. All I could do was wander down the path of life to see where it led. Either way what would happen next would all depend on the decisions I made.

Right now, despite my introspective mood, my body was screaming once more for sleep. So I laid down my head and closed my eyes. Though I could guess it would be more of the same, even I couldn't predict what the new dawn would bring.

This story's really awesome. ^^ I'm so glad to be able to witness it as it's being written. Hehe.

You labeled this as Chapter 3 though I think.

Thank you. Yeah, and you have front row seat too. :P

I did, I had that on my mind while typing for whatever reason, but it's fixed now. It's taken me three hours to post this. T T I keep getting unknown error 1 when I would try to bring up the thread, and have had to resort to posting in chunks and editing in the rest to get it to work. >>;

First off I would like to sincerely apologize for this taking so long. I wouldn't blame you if you thought I abandoned this, I would too. I never expected the personal and writing issues I had while writing this chapter. Personally, college has utterly destroyed the time I used to take to write this. Everything written here was written while I was on break inbetween semesters, add that to the fact that I've been going summer too, and well yeah. On the writing issues, I struggled with this, there are like ten different versions of this chapter, I hope this one is decent. So yeah, for a long time I would stare at what I had written before, think it sucked, start over, and then have to abandon it because of school. All I can say is that I hope you're still interested in reading this, because I'm still writing. Hopefully the next one will come sooner too.

As the days passed, I managed to stay out of trouble long enough for my wounds to heal. As soon as that happened I left that annoying, barren, crowded, fruitless place and headed back toward the mountains. I had hoped that I might find another meadow, but no matter how hard I searched once I got there, I couldn't find one like the one I had been to before. There were only small grassy areas that couldn't support me for long durations. It was frustrating, but something I was used to. Still, I wanted to curse those whom where the cause of my current search.

It had been my last major battle in the weeks that had since passed. It wasn't that I was avoiding battles, but more like I just hadn't been challenged, probably as there was nothing really worth fighting for in that dirt pile. Oh well, at least I had plenty of time to look for the next place I'd stay.

On this day however, I came across to what my stunned eyes told me was an orchard of red round fruits, yet there was not a single Pokémon in sight, nor a single scent marking to be found. I was surprised because there was no way this much food could be left untouched. There had to be a catch, but everywhere I looked I couldn't find it. Besides the weird thorny vine like things that ran between the sticks coming out of the ground in front of it, there was nothing out of the ordinary. After staring at it awhile I couldn't sense any danger coming, so I threw out my vines to the nearest tree branch and hoisted myself over.

Wandering over to the trees I began picking the fruits one after the other, as they were the best thing I had eaten since I couldn't remember when. So sweet and juicy, they almost melted in my mouth.

When I went to pull off another fruit, it caught, or rather… it was being pulled back in the other direction? I glared at it. Why should I even be surprised?

Well, all it took was one big jerk… and it finally came off, along with the obvious answer to why the fruit suddenly had a mind of its own. Lowering it to my face revealed the little yellow fluffball attached to the other side.

I stared at the thing until it suddenly twitched and opened a pair of dark brown eyes. We looked back at each other for a few seconds when it blinked a few times. Then suddenly…

Not that it really did anything, since I found out over time that I had some sort of immunity to it, and this was far from the worst one could get. The small amount of static danced across my skin and I felt a slight tingle. After three seconds it was over, and I waited for its next move-

-which was to fall to the ground with a thud.

I waited for a moment while it laid there as limp as a grass blade with swirls in its eyes. Finally shrugging, I took a bite of the fruit. I sighed, vaguely wondering if there were more of them around here and how many other fruits they had managed to nibble on.

Ah yes, Pichu, the little yellow rodent that lay in front of me with its black tipped ears, collar, and tail. It also had these two red spots on its cheeks, which was where it kept its electricity. They were kind of like Rattata in that they were small and fast, but they lacked the fangs.

And of course it had the reputation of having the most worthless attack ability known to Pokémon. You see, instead of biting like the other rodents, they used their electric attacks to fight off their predators. This in theory made sense for things like bird Pokémon who seemed to be weak to it. The problem was they didn't have enough power to counter but the weakest birds, and they only got one shot since, of course, they knocked themselves out with their own attack.

Yes, that's right, they couldn't use their own abilities without hurting themselves. Stupidest thing ever, no?

Therefore they relied on their speed because if they got picked up by anything like Fearow then it was all over.

So, I ignored it, but not my surroundings, because where there was prey, there were predators. Though on the other hand, Pichu were known as skittish, and would try to avoid trouble since they knew their predicament all too well. Either way, I would have to keep up my guard.

Sure enough, after eating a few more fruits, an eerie feeling started to settle over me. It was kind of hard to describe, like something was watching me, but I didn't know what. Taking my mind off the food, I slowly began to back up into a more open area.

There was something out there, and I had to be ready.

Suddenly, I heard the swift sounds of something running across the grass, and could just see the blurs coming. Not even hesitating I whirled out my vines in a sweeping motion to hit whatever it was.

Two of them to be exact. They were struggling to get to their feet after the hit they had been given. I stared at them curiously, while they shook the dirt off and wobbled toward me. Just what did they think they were doing?

Stopping right in front of me, their bodies tensed in a battle stance, while I blinked.

"(What did you do to him?)" one of them demanded.

"(Him?)" I questioned, though I had a pretty good idea of what he was talking about.

"(Yeah, look at what you did to our friend!)" he said while pointing to the other Pichu that lay in front of me.

I walked over to the "him" in question, tapped his limp body with my foot, and watched as nothing happened.

"(I didn't do anything. He knocked himself out.)" I stated, with emphasis on the last part.

The Pichu on the left, the one who had been talking, began, "(Well you must have done something!)"

I raised an eyebrow. "(Like what?)" Then I decided to toy with them. "(If I had wanted to do something to him, he would be laying here in pieces right now.)" I grinned wickedly.

"(Oh yeah!)" he challenged, I noted with a bit more fear in his voice.

"(Hey, don't make it worse,)" the other one hissed.

The first one glared at him. "(Make it worse? Have you forgotten? We're here to rescue Chupi!)"

The one on the right muttered back a disgruntled, "(I know!)"

"(Then it can't get any worse than it is already!)" he shouted.

"(Not if you try to get her to maul us in the process!)" the other cried.

I could have stood there watching them entertain me for a while longer, but it was beginning to get old. There were better things to do than watch a bunch of fuzzballs duke it out. Besides my curiosity was starting to get the better of me, and I almost I wanted to know why two Pichu would be so stupid as to attack someone in open broad daylight.

I sighed. "(Hey guys, can we get this over with? I don't want to stand here all day.)"

"Lefty", as I called him for sake of convenience, shouted, "(You'll wish you'd never met us by the time we're through!)

I muttered, "(That's what I'm afraid of.)" Something told me that that would prove true before all was said and done, though definitely not the way he was thinking.

"Righty", I had to differentiate him too, asked him, "(You have a plan?)"

Lefty nodded. "(Yeah, we confuse her.)"

They shared a smile before using their speed to instantly vanish, or that's the way it appeared. I could still hear them moving if I tried hard enough. It didn't matter though, because I knew in the end they would attack me head on, since they had no other choice, and that's all I had to wait for.

Standing there, listening to them dance around in their complex little pattern, I had to admit they were at least using a strategy to compensate for what they lacked in power. That wasn't something I had seen in my opponents for a while. At least it would make this more interesting.

Then there was sound just in front of me, so taking the opportunity, I threw out my vines to block, and sure enough there was an "oomph" as a result. Smirking as the yellow ball rolled across the dirt, I felt my senses go off, and jerked my head back to the left just in time to see the other one lunging at me. My vines were already extended, thus seemingly, there was no way I could call them back in time to hit. I was wide open as it appeared.

I had to hand it to them -- they actually were trying to give themselves the best chance they had to win this.

Too bad for them I was far more experienced at playing this game.

As soon as he was about to hit me, I tossed my leaf around, slamming him back against a tree. Immediately I unleashed a torrent of leaves that soared through the air with blinding speed. The little Pichu only had time to blink and gasp in horror as he saw them close in.

I smirked at the result.

Meanwhile, his companion gasped in shock.

Maybe it was cruel, but a lesson had to be taught about who you should and shouldn't mess with. And based on the sight before me I guessed that I did a pretty good job of it. Before I could start snickering I said, "(You can open your eyes now.)"

Brown eyes began to open, looking bewildered from their owner's expectation of being in a lot more pain. But instead, his body was still intact, and the attack that had been about to slice him into a dozen shreds a second ago was gone. Looking around, he followed everyone's gaze upward to about an ear length above his head…

… where several leaves were dug into the tree by their sharp edges. Now that the force behind them had ended, they hung more limply, and one of them slid from its place in the tree to float softly to the ground. It danced lazily through the air in a zigzag pattern before landing on the Pichu's gazing face.

It was all I could take before breaking into laughter.

That was enough to shake Lefty out of his daze, making him glare angrily at me. He shouted, "(What are you laughing at!? You're the one who missed!)"

I stopped long enough to snicker, "(Hardly, they went exactly where I wanted them to. You're just lucky I'm not in the mood for sliced Pichu, since the mess would spoil the fruit.)" Okay, so I was having some fun. So what?

"(You liar! I could have dodged them at any time!)" he shot back.

Even his companion could only sigh.

I snorted, "(Right, just keep telling yourself that. Especially when your strategy was flawed. It could be worse than this right now.)"

"(Oh yeah!)" he dared.

"(Yeah.)" I answered while tossing another dozen leaves, this time in their general direction. They scattered immediately -- well almost all of them, I thought while looking at the limp ball of fur that still hadn't moved yet off to my right.

After the conclusion of one of the shortest battles ever, I figured it was time to get back to more important things. Besides, there was still plenty of daylight left, and a lot of new area to search, so who knew what other kinds of fruits I might find if-

WHOOSH!

My head jerked up in an instant. Something had rattled the branches on one of the trees not too far away. Instantly I began searching for whatever had made it; for whatever was stalking this place.

But I didn't hear anything after that. It just got quiet, eerily quiet. Not that everything in the forest went still, but… something was off.

I couldn't tell what though.

I ran back toward the clearing where I had been, because it felt better to be closer to an open area rather than be surrounded by forest. Peering my eyes around in all directions, I hunted for whatever might be out there. Everything looked normal, but my instincts were going off like a warning cry.

Once I got there, I didn't see anything that was different from before. Nothing was in the clearing, nothing was in the sky, nothing except that annoying duo of Pichu who were… staring at… the sun…

Wait a minute?

Staring at the sun? Yanking my head in the same direction to figure out what they were looking at, I was met with bright light. Rapidly shutting my eyes against the pain, I waited for it to dull, before squinting to see what it was.

But there was nothing there.

Then what was going on? I looked back at them to see they hadn't moved, instead continuing their weird behavior of gazing at a burning ball of light without it somehow bothering them. Were they completely out of it?

Or as it suddenly became obvious, it was much worse than that.

The shadow swiftly ran across the ground in front of them, so fast it vanished as soon as it appeared. Backed up against a tree, I searched everywhere trying to find it before it found me. Unfortunately, I didn't have to wait.

RATTLE!

As a few leaves on a nearby tree fluttered, I looked upwards to see that it had finally emerged from the light in which it had hid.

The brown plumage with the black triangles, the great cream split head crest, and those haunting red eyes, it was all there. It was the parts that made up one of the worst predators of the forest, as their victims didn't know what had happened until it was too late. Silently stalking their prey in the dark of night, or when they least expected it.

The great bird Noctowl.

Noctowl were infamous because of their eyes. You see, therein lied their secret weapon; the ability to make Pokémon who made the mistake of looking at them completely oblivious to all. They would send those affected into some sort of weird dreamlike state where they couldn't really fight back. Although it only lasted a short time it was ridiculously effective on their prey, and predators alike.

Whenever they woke up it was already too late.

Their abilities made them especially famous as nest robbers of young Pokémon who had the unfortunate fate to come across them. In that situation, Noctowl would use their eyes to incapacitate anyone there and make away with the sleeping child. They would be far enough away so that their parents couldn't respond when the daze wore off, and no one would know what happened.

Unless by some miracle the young just happened to distract it long enough before they could escape…

... thus giving enough time for the parent to intervene if they hadn't gotten too far away.

A chill ran down my spine. That was definitely a rare occurrence, and for most that opportunity never came.

For most…

My eyes settled back on the Pichu. They were still staring dazedly at the sun. In other words, they didn't stand a chance.

They had looked into the eyes of Noctowl, and now they would meet their fate. I looked around, there weren't any other Pichu coming to save them, not that they would be so foolish.

My gaze settled on their limp companion who they said they were going to "save". And now there was no one coming to their rescue this time.

I snorted. That was a familiar situation.

This is what happens when someone finally loses the game.

Yet despite the fact that it wouldn't be the first time I saw something like this, right now all my stomach could do was churn.

Deep down this didn't feel right.

The Noctowl wasn't after me. Once it took an easy meal it would fly off to eat somewhere away from thieves. Besides, it was none of my business. It never had been.
Despite this, every muscle in my body tensed up as the Noctowl came in for the final dive after it had decided they were under its control.

I couldn't help but shudder. Why was I watching this? All I was doing was taking the risk of being spotted.

I knew the reason I had made it this long was from standing on my own four feet, fighting all the time with no help from anyone else, and if I lost that it was over. There wasn't going to be anyone else to defend me, and likewise I had no one to defend.

You made your own way in life, and what you saw wasn't always pretty. Even if you didn't like the way the world worked, you certainly couldn't go around trying to stop the harsh facts of life from occurring every time it happened. In a world where everyone couldn't care less about anyone besides themselves, such thoughts were silly.

Risking it all for someone else, for no real reason, was a quick and stupid way for the game to end.

Yet for some reason I couldn't tear myself away. Staring at the situation almost as if I was in daze myself, it played out with chilling familiarity.

This was the finale, and I was its witness.

Gliding swiftly through the air, it was getting closer to the ground every second, claws outstretched in anticipation of its prey.

Meanwhile I felt frozen by a feeling that I wouldn't often admit to feeling: fear.

Watching the sinister scene unfold I found that my body had suddenly frozen up. So much was running through my head at that moment that my thoughts were chaotic and emotions on edge for reasons I couldn't even explain. All I knew was that it felt like everything had gone horribly wrong.

I turned toward the sound, and there it was circling around the nearest tree.

As its eyes bore directly into mine I saw its claws outstretch... for me. This was it.

If only they knew what was about to happen.

A silent flap of its wings focused my eyes on it, and despite everything I couldn't stop myself from glancing at those fiercely intense eyes.

Gasping as I saw it again, my body went numb. I couldn't move. I couldn't think. I could only stare at the scene unfolding in front of me.

There was no way for them to escape, no one to save them, and no second chance as it eventually came for the final assault.

My mind finally began yelling at me. It's coming back! It's coming back! Do something! I tried desperately to move. I didn't want it to get me again. But how could I stop it? What could I do?

Their fate was sealed, wasn't it? For who had the power to actually fight fate? Who could change destiny?

Unfortunately, I found the only thing I could do was scream.

My ears stung as a sharp cry erupted from the predator, and it was suddenly being pummeled. Knocked this way and that, a terrible barrage nearly sent it to the ground. Struggling to stay aloft it searched desperately for what started the attack, but it never got the chance to figure it out.

A dark blur shot out of the forest, striking it down instantly. The once invincible hunter crashed to the ground calling out in agony over the pain that had surprised it. It struggled to make sense of the vicious assault that came out of nowhere.

At the moment its concentration was lost, the spell it had lain over its unsuspecting victims was finally lifted.

"(What the…?)"

"(Ow, my eyes!)"

"(What's going on?)"

Rubbing their watering eyes, the confused Pichu squinted in different directions in an attempt to figure out exactly what had happened. But they didn't seem to be getting any closer to finding the answer.

“Tooooooowl!”

Until they heard that cry ring out in the air.

"(What's that?)" With that question left hanging in the air, they looked for the startling noise, only to find an even more startling sight.

There on the ground, finally getting to its feet was one of the scariest creatures they had ever had to worry about facing. It was rubbing at its head repeatedly with its wing, seemingly taking no notice of the rodents, but they certainly took notice of it. They gasped, before automatically shutting their mouths and wondering where it had come from.

Before they could even ponder that, the bird turned and caught sight of them. They stared at each other a moment in a strange sort of standoff, of hunter and the hunted. Unexpectedly, out of the blue a branch snapped off of one of nearby trees and before they could even react...

“Towl!”

…it reacted by finally struggling to take to the air, and disappeared into the distance.

They looked at one another in confusion for a moment. "(Did that Noctowl look scared?)" The baffled question arose. But it was unthinkable; what did it have to be scared of anyway? Yet it ran away, spooked from a branch breaking?

"(I don't know, but- Hey, look up there!)" Lefty suddenly shouted, pointing up at the tree where the branch had broken.

There up in the tree, and in fact a couple of the other trees, were several leaves embedded in the bark. Not to mention the cuts and slashes on the branches that showed how they'd gotten there. Looking back at the branch that lay on the ground, it too had apparently been cut through to the point where it had broken off.

Maybe that explained the ruffled appearance of the bird, and bloodied spot they had seen between its eyes.

"(Where did this come from?)" Chupi asked Lefty.

"(It almost looks like…)" he began to answer.

"(Look,)" Righty whispered interrupting him.

They turned to see what he was looking at, and I found all of them now staring at me.

I stood there for a second without betraying an emotion, before turning to run away without speaking a word.

Now when it was warm, the mountain meadows were way better than the ones in the thicker forests farther down, since they didn't have all the trees choking out the sunlight. Of course the higher you climbed the colder it got, and once the sun went down at night any warmth that was left over from the day instantly disappeared. That was the tradeoff.

Knowing all of this as I got closer, I would never miss an opportunity to get as much warmth and energy from daylight as I could.

Though, on the other hand, sunbathing carelessly could land you in a whole lot of trouble, as I knew firsthand.

Those thoughts were interrupted by my coming out of the woods, out onto a break in the trees that was a fairly good size. Now basking fully in the sunshine, I shivered off the cold, taking in the newfound warmth, while my feet adored the soft mountain grass that was begging me to relax. After all that walking, this place was almost perfect to stop and sunbathe.

I sighed. Too bad it was only almost perfect.

Of course there would have to be a path running right though it, meaning that anyone from human to random Pokemon would be led here if they were to go toward the pass. It was the only way from here to avoid going into the mountains.

So as I stood there in that little grassy area with the path running through it, I had a mental debate with myself. Should I keep up the pace like I had been since I left the orchard? Or should I give in to my body's tired begging for rest and sun?

My eyes were already beginning to droop, and the pathway smelled like it hadn't been used in forever.

Finally unable to keep my eyes open any longer, I gave in.

After all, how much worse could things get compared to what I had already seen?

"That's cool. It must be just like winter over there. Why don't we go and see if we can ski?"

Ski? Or maybe it's sky? But how can you sky?

"That's a great idea! I can see myself now, spending all morning on the slopes and all afternoon at the lodge. Uh, I think I may have just hit on the perfect sport for me… downhill skiing."

"I think your brain's going downhill."

You know, this couldn't get any weirder. I mean what the heck is a ski? Or is it sky? Are we going up into the sky? Or maybe down somewhere? I think it was down.

"Forget skiing! I found something that's even better. Just take a look over there."

There?

Where’s there?

Is here there?

"It's a Chikorita."

"(Yeah, it is.)"

It seemed like I was there, but I wasn't. I just wanted to escape again back into the obliviousness of relaxation, but I was being pulled away. It wasn't fair.

"It's so cute."

"Looks like it's sunbathing."

Cute? Sunbathing? What?

"I smell something sweet."

"Yeah, that's the scent that comes off the Chikorita's petals."

"It's a little like the way Casey's Chikorita smelled, remember?"

Chikorita… smelled? Scent? Chikorita… I'm… Oh crap.

"Think it's a wild Chikorita?"

"Yeah, probably."

Yep, this is what I get for questioning fate. Having everything come back to bite me in the butt. Ha ha, real funny. I get it, the joke's on me.

"Chikorita: the leaf Pokémon. Chikorita emit aromas from the leaves on their heads, and they love to sunbathe," an eerie emotionless voice rang out in the air.

Um, okay? Now that you know that startling new information, can't you go away? I mean, I have better things to do right now, and none of it involves whomever you are.
You think maybe… just maybe… if I keep pretending that I'm still asleep they won't try to catch me?

"Okay, I'm going to catch this one!"

Of course. That's so funny I forgot to laugh.

Oh well, might as well get this over with. The sooner I kick their butts, the sooner I can get back to my search… for a new place to stay… after being ripped away from the old one… by humans.

Joy.

Opening my eyes, I leapt up off the ground hoping to startle my opponent, who was probably trying to catch me off guard. As if. It was not going be that easy, not by a long shot.

"(If you want me… you're going to have to pay for it,)" I growled, meaning every single word. Today was not going to be a repeat of last time.

Taking a moment to see what I was facing, I found in front of me stood a boy. He had dark hair covered by a red and white thing, dark eyes, and tan skin. More of that familiar, yet strange, fur covered him like every other human. There was black on his middle which itself was covered by blue, before turning to white where his arms came out. The lower half was covered in blue too, and his feet were black and white.

However, I found myself paying more attention to what would probably be my opponent on his right shoulder. A feeling of disgust settled in when I saw the yellow fur, black tipped ears, red cheeks, and jagged tail. I think it was called a Pikachu, also known as the next form of Pichu, except not as useless.

Pichu…

I snorted.

Today was just not my day, was it?

"If this Chikorita belongs to anybody, tell me now!"

Say what? He thought I might belong to somebody? Calling me disgusted right now would be an understatement.

Is that all humans take us for? Creatures meant to be collected by them? Pokémon have little worth to them outside of battling, it seems.

Though for some reason, his friends had fallen to the ground, and his Pikachu had a look of exasperation on its face.

Hmm… maybe...

Nah…

"If you don't, I'm gonna capture it!" he continued.

Grr. How annoying. Who did he think he was anyway?

"(Are you kidding me?)" I muttered.

"Don't say I didn't give you fair warning!"

He couldn't shut up, could he? Oh, I'll give him a warning all right.

Before I could carry that out however, the girl behind him spoke. "Keep it down, Ash! Or you're going to scare Chikorita away!"

Scare me away? They really didn't consider me much of anything, did they? I am really going to enjoy this battle.
"(I'm not scared,") I taunted. "(I'm not afraid… of anything you… are going to throw out… of those cursed balls)" I was chanting by now, swinging the leaf on my head around to show my challenge. I dared them to come after me. If they wanted to battle me then they were going to know they weren't dealing with a coward.
And apparently the squinty eyed boy noticed. "It's not scaring so easy."

"Huh?" questioned the boy and girl.

"This one looks like a pretty tough cookie," he stated.

At least he seems to have some sense.

"It's not backing down a bit," commented the girl. Even though I thought Knotted Hair looked stranger, she still looked a little odd with her red hair somehow sticking out of the left side of her head like that. So I guess I'll call her Red? It's convenient.

"I told you it was tough," responded the same boy. Now he definitely looked weirder than anybody I had seen before, I didn't know humans could keep their eyes closed and still see. I would keep that in mind as I dubbed him Squinty.

Red turned to him and questioned, "I thought Chikorita were supposed to be sweet."

Time to put an end to that myth.

The other boy - didn't Red call him something? I guess I wasn't paying attention - didn't seem deterred in the least. "If you ask me, there's nothing sweeter than capturing a tough one." He smiled, before turning the thing on his head around and throwing a cursed ball with a cry of, "I choose you, Bulbasaur!"

"(Let's get started!)"

Rather than face the electric attacks of the Pikachu, it seems he chose another Grass Pokémon. Like it would have better odds. Anyway, looking at the green reptile with a bulb on his back I wasn't too impressed.

But maybe the boy hadn't underestimated me like I thought. "Don't let this one fool you! It looks nasty!"

My opponent took one look at me before turning back to say, "(If you say so.)"

I growled. How dare he. "(You're about to find out!)" I yelled charging him head on.

"Go, Bulbasaur, grab it with Vine Whip!" screamed the boy.

Before I could dodge, familiar green vines flew out from his bulb to knock me off my feet. Tumbling a few times I regained control and managed to land standing up. Not hesitating I tossed two leaves at him in retribution. I knew it wouldn't do much, but I wanted to see how strong he was. Let’s see if he can match his words.

"(Try this!)"

"It's using Razor Leaf!" Squinty yelled.

The boy's - wasn't he called Dust or something? - confidence had not been doused however. "It's not going to beat Bulbasaur that way."

"(Not in the least,)" my opponent agreed grinning, while tossing his own leaves to take out mine. Once his little display was over he laughed, "(That was easy.)"

Mark my words, that piece of dirt is going to eat it.

Red commented, "Bulbasaur sure seems confident."

"Maybe a little too confident," Squinty suggested.

You know, maybe... he might be the least annoying human I've ever met.

"Bulbasaur, use Tackle attack!"

"(With pleasure!)"

"(What!?)" I let him get too close to dodge! Darn it! Thanks to that human I let my guard down!

He slammed into me before I could blink, my body rolled across the grass before coming to a stop with my legs sprawled out. I tried to catch my breath.

The boy didn't waste a second. "Okay, Chikorita, now I'm going to capture you!" I looked up to see him throw the cursed ball, the ball he was so sure would end my freedom.

For a moment it felt familiar.

I heard her yell, "Go Pokeball!" I turned my head just in time to see one of the cursed balls coming at me.

But this time I was ready.

Hopping to my feet instantly, I waited for the right moment when it would come within range. My mind replaying the last time I had done this, I whirled my leaf at it with everything I had. For a second I felt the cool smoothness of the ball strike my leaf, then fly rapidly back toward the boy who had the reflexes to catch it with his hand before he could be hit.

I wonder what would happen if a human was hit with the ball?

"It's tougher than I thought," he muttered looking surprised.

"(You'd better believe it!)" I screamed.

No more games. It was time to put them in their place.

"Hey! Look out!" The boy saw my attack in time to yell, but too late for Bulbasaur to react.

In the maneuver I was so used to, the point tips of my vines collided on his forehead, tearing through the scales that were supposed to protect him. He screamed out in shock, the boy gasped in disbelief, before he tumbled backwards intro the earth. Coming to a stop, he was moaning in agony while he lay clutching his head with his front legs.

I can't say that I wasn't smiling at the scene.

"Bad break. That Chikorita's good," Squinty praised.

"I have to admit, Chikorita's a great competitor and it's really cute," Red agreed.

Wait a minute? Are they praising me for thrashing their friend's Pokémon?

Um... Aren't they supposed to be on his side?

Er, they must want me for themselves or something.

Meanwhile the boy, um what was his name again? It was a human "A" word. At? Ache? Ask? Er, something I can't be bothered to remember, pulled out his ball and ended Bulbasaur's humiliation. "You did a great job. Now you deserve a rest."

Great job? I blinked. Why is he lying like that? I've seen humans do it a few times before, and it's kinda low if you ask me. How can you honestly tell someone with a straight face they did great after they got their butt kicked? Bulbasaur may have been an arse, but still...

"You may have gotten lucky against Bulbasaur," he began while grabbing another ball, “but your luck's about to run out, Chikorita."

Oh, so it was luck? He'll be lucky to come out of this intact when I get through with him.

"I choose you, Charizard!"

And then something appeared, that even I have to admit sent a chill down my spine.

And nearly knocked me off my feet, literally.

A huge orange dragon with wings and pure fire burning on its tail was staring back at me.

I faced a monster once and lived to tell the tale, now I would have the chance to defeat one. And if anybody had a chance it was me… right? I tensed. Right.

Now all I needed was a plan.

"Let's win this one, Charizard."

"(Of course,)" it growled, like it was stating the obvious.

Well, you know what they say; it's better to face your problems head on, or in my case, ram into them. Hopefully the insanity of such a move will catch it off guard and buy me some time.

Or the monster could just lift up a foot to stop my attack in its tracks. Drat.

Still, like the stubborn one I am, I dug in and poured all of my strength into pushing back. Because, hey, it was still buying me time.

What? Did I just hear it yawn? Oh, come on!

But what was I going to do? How do I topple something that can stop me with just one foot? How can I-

Oh.

All I needed was the right moment.

"This one is pretty tricky, Charizard; use your Flamethrower!"

Bingo.

"(Eat this-)"

Too bad it never got a chance to finish that sentence. "(You're mine!)" because my vines wrapped around its other leg and pulled it out from underneath it. When you add that to the fact its foot was still in the air, well… let's just say I got to see a dragon fly.

"Ahh!" a familiar voice cried out.

Of course, even better was the fact that dumping it on its back unleashed on the boy the attack that was meant for me. Ha! I said he wouldn't get out of this unscathed, but this – I snickered – was too perfect.

Hey? Wasn't his name… um, something like… Soot?

Well, it fits.

"Hey! Don't use it on me!" he cried.

"(How is that my problem?)" the monster grumbled scratching its head with its claw.

Since they were distracted I took the opportunity, to toss some leaves at them. Let’s see their reaction to this.

"Burn those leaves with your Flamethrower!"

It only took a second for every single leaf to be incinerated. "(Shoot.)" They weren’t as distracted as I thought. I guess it's time for my backup plan, but how was I going to get it to work?

"Now, finish it off! Tackle attack!"

"(Prepare for the end!)" it roared, taking to the air with its wings.

The look in its eyes told me that the monster was obviously pissed off from before, and meant it was going to plant me into the ground. Though now that it was airborne, possibly I stood a better chance. I had to time it just right.

Closer…

It's speeding up…

Only one shot…

Now!

My vines flew at their target as fast as I could throw them. Not that I knew a monster's weakness, but that spot between the eyes had never failed me before… most of the time, anyway. And the sensation of the tips digging into its scales before they flew outward in a whipping motion, plus the stunned look on its face gave me some hope that it would succeed this time too.

I held my breath.

Everything stood still, I heard Soot gasp somewhere off in the distance, but I was too focused on the results of my attack.

Pain took over the monster's features. I watched it try to remain in the air, completely forgetting about me as it sailed way overhead. It looked like it had lost control…

Lost control…

Then it dawned on me…

I had won.

I blinked.

No, really… I'd just won.

A wicked smirk erupted on my face for the whole world to see.

I had beaten a monster! I had beaten a freaking legendary monster! I was… wow… I had just completely owned an invincible beast in every way! I must be invincible! Go me!

"What an upset! Charizard is headed for a fall!" Squinty yelled.

Do you hear that world? Chikorita can make the most powerful of opponents fall before her! Take that, fate! Bwahahaha!

No one, and I mean no one can stop me now. I'm free to do whatever I wa-aaaaaaaah!

What the? I had been yanked off the ground and into the air! But how? I mean- Oh crud! I let my vines get hooked on the monster's scales! Stupid! So very stupid!

Now it was taking me down with it.

"(Ahhhhhhh!)" This is not fair. Not fair at all. Okay, so maybe I gloated a bit too much, but this is ridiculous! Why couldn’t I control my own destiny?

But a small little voice in the back of mind, one that I was trying very hard to ignore, said that maybe I did…

…when I forgot to retract my vines. Crap.

"This is bad!" I heard Red yell from somewhere.

"There're gonna crash into that mountain!" Squinty added.

Mountain? This couldn’t get any worse, could it?

"(Argh!)" I heard the monster roar behind me.

"(Ahhh!)" I didn't even have a second to brace myself before I was slammed into the hard rock. My body went numb... the pain overwhelming everything... all of my senses went blank... Darkness was beckoning me to escape... but I was trapped... gravity caught up to me... dragged me back down... to the earth... as fast... as it could...

The moment my eyes began to respond, they burned viciously from the light. Squinting, I tried to make out the fuzzy shapes that only slowly started to come into focus. It didn't help that the world was passing by at a steady pace for reasons I still didn't understand.

But I could see what was right next to me. Black… blue fur… tan skin… "(W-what?)" I gasped.

My first instinct would be to lash out at whatever it was. However pain flared through me the moment I tried to move. Ow. Since my body decided to revolt against me, I tried to remember what happened. I could hardly move.

"Don't you worry now, I'm gonna take good care of you."

My body seized up at the voice. Forget everything else! Panic! I had been grabbed by human! Yeah, like heck they were gonna take care of me. Probably stuff me into one of those cursed balls and-

No. No, I couldn't think like that. I was going to get out of this. I was going to escape.

Except... I didn't have any energy to toss leaves, my vines didn't want to respond, and my body resisted any movement I made with [I]sheer pain[/.

Well there was always the last resort.

"Yeow!"

Let's see that human hang on to me with my teeth ripping into his arm.

But… Blech. I couldn't believe I bit a human. That was like sinking to some new low. And it was awful, the coppery taste filling my mouth was just fowl.

Hey? Why hadn't he dropped me yet? What did I have to do? Maul him?

"Hey! Take it easy. We're trying to help," he admonished.

Help me? That's hilarious. If he really wanted to help me he'd let go. But that would be too much to hope for wouldn't it?

"(Blech,)" I finally gagged, releasing his arm. I couldn't stand it anymore.

It was then that I noticed that we were heading toward some giant rock - no it looked like wood - mountain thing. I have no idea how to describe it. I had never seen it before, and I didn't get a good chance to look at it because-

CREAK!

The boy ran inside of it... somehow. What was this? A cave?

"Nurse Joy! Nurse Joy!" he yelled.

Turning my attention away from the bizarre cave that also looked like it was made of wood, I saw another human… one that had to strange even by their standards.

"Oh, can I help you?" she chirped

"Chikorita needs help. It got hurt when we were battling and-"

"Don't say anymore," she interrupted and clapped her hands. "Chansey!"

I heard a squeaking noise and turned my head to see a thing and a pink blob emerge from another pathway in the cave.

I blinked.

That... walking... egg shaped... whatever... was a Pokémon? A living, breathing Pokémon? It barely had any arms and legs, and… ironically was carrying an egg in a pouch on its front. Wow.

Who knew?

"(Ready for duty,)" she sang.

"Okay, just put it down here," the woman directed, pointing the weird moving thing that had been pushed by the weird Pokémon. Because, naturally, the situation just couldn't get any weirder.

As soon as I felt the boy's grip slacken, I took my chances to fight back with everything I had.

"Whoa! Hey, come on. It's okay," he consoled as I basically squirmed around. Unfortunately everything I had wasn't saying much at the moment. Darn it.

So after he set me on something soft, I was frustratingly panting from exhaustion. Glancing around, I got my first good look at the cause for current predicament. A boy. A simple human boy who was standing there with his companions, all of which looked kinda familiar.

Wait a moment! I remember now! That was Soot! That was the punk who tried to catch me! That piece of- When I got my vines on him he was going to pay... and pay dearly. Forget the Pokémon battle, I'd already won that... jerk. No, he was going to face my vengeance personally. Just what the heck was he trying to pull. Nobody crosses me and gets away with it. Nobody.

"(You CHIKARIKA! When a chance I'm gonna rip you to shreds! I'm gonna tear you limb from limb so you can never throw one of those balls again! You chikaka! Karikari and cut open that fur of yours and rikachika chiri ka! You think you've won, kachika?! Well I'm gonna rikachika you!)"

"(What's she saying, Uncle Pikachu? I never heard lots of those words before.)"

"(Stuff that will only get you in trouble, Togepi. Trust me.)"

Of course thanks to the language barrier Soot, Red, and Squinty were staring at me cluelessly despite all of my lovely death threats.

"Well if it's that energetic then that's a good sign." A way too cheery voice commented from behind me. "Hopefully it's nothing too serious, but we'll find out soon enough."

Soot nodded. "Thanks, Nurse Joy."

My glare was broken when I suddenly started moving. "(Now what?)" I grunted to hide my confusion.

"(Don't worry. You'll probably feel a lot better once we get you back for treatment,)" the so-called Pokémon pushing me comforted.

"(T-treatment?)" I gulped, wide-eyed. Oh no. Jerking my head around, ow, I saw that I was going into another part of the cave. Meanwhile the entrance, and my exit, was getting further and further away… along with my chances for escape.

All right, body I command you to move! Get up! Fight them, darn it!

And my body responded by doing nothing as my only way out disappeared around a corner.

Before long we finally stopped at our destination, and it didn't soothe my fears in the least.

Taking a look at another part the cave, if it could be called that, I noticed it was white, bright, and full of things I could never hope to describe. A shudder ran down my spine at thought of the
way some of those things could be used. This was a nightmare.

But sadly I wasn't waking up.

"All right, let's get the examination stated shall we?"

Oh great. When did the weird woman get here?

Speaking of the strange girl, who happened to be largest human I'd ever seen, I finally got a good look at her odd appearance. Pink, there was a lot of pink, as her hair was ridiculously bright with the color, and her fur was a lighter shade of it that was covered by white. She was also wearing one of those strange fur things on her head like the boy, but hers was white with red in the middle.

Of course what mattered more than anything was the fact that she was moving toward me.

"(Don't touch me,)" I growled. "(Don't you dare touch me.)" I meant it too. For no matter how disgusting it was earlier, I wouldn't hesitate to clamp down on her hand if it meant getting out of here. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Her Pokémon quickly moved to intervene. "(Settle down, she's just going to check you for injuries.)"

"(I don't care!)" I screamed. "(Get away from me!)" Silently I tried to wiggle toward the edge of the thing I was on. "(You think I trust you?!)" If I got close enough I could throw myself to the ground when I had the chance.

Sensing my hostility the girl continued to come forward, reaching out to me with her hand. "Chikorita," she began, “I know you're afraid, but we're not going to hurt you."

Swatting her hand with my leaf I yelled in disbelief, "(Do you think I'm that stupid?!)" Just a little more. "(I want out of here!)" Almost there. "(And you're not going to stop me!)" Now!

Throwing myself over the edge was probably one of the more desperate things I'd ever done, considering I didn't have a plan for what I 'd do after I hit ground. Or that I hadn't taken into account just how I was going to get my body to start working again. But at this point I was just making things up as I went along.

Of course in the end none of that mattered, since my freedom only lasted for less than a second.

"Oh my!" I heard the gasp accompany the feeling of my body hitting warm skin and fur, not the cold and hard ground. "Chansey? Can you ready the Rejuvenation Unit?"

"(Right away!)" she responded.

Squirming and thrashing, I fought her grip trying to hit her, bite her, anything really. My struggle didn't last long as my new found energy gave out as soon as I had found it, leaving her unscathed, and me trapped in her arms. I really hadn't anticipated her speed at trying to grab me. She should have at least been a little surprised. Drat.

"There we go." Feeling more softness I found myself right back where I started. Now what was I supposed to-

"(It's ready!)"

"All right," she replied, before walking behind me. Wait? What was ready?

CLANG!

What?! What is this?! Something had been placed over me, I didn't know what, and it was completely around me. I could still see through it, but when I tried to hit it with my leaf it proved to be very solid. There was no way out. I've been surrounded! I'm trapped! I- I- What do I do? I've gotta-

"Poor thing. It isn't going to calm down is it?

"(Probably not.)"

"Oh well, a dose of this ought to help it relax."

CLICK!

All of a sudden, a powder began floating around me. I tried to hold my breath, but that was a losing battle. She- she put something on the outside of the see through thing, and now… now… so… tired… this… smell…

A field. A perfectly nice, normal grassy field. The sun was shining overhead, the birds were chirping, and there were dozens of tasty looking flowers that were scattered across it. I thought it was beautiful.

Though I didn't understand why I felt so strongly.

It just… I guess felt good to see something like this. For some reason it felt like I hadn't seen anything like this in a long time. But that was ridiculous. How could I miss seeing something like
this? Wasn't normal to find a meadow on a sunny day every so often?

Wasn't it?

Sprawling out in the warm grass, I felt a gentle breeze tickle my skin as the sun's rays drenched me, replenishing my energy. Feeling myself nod off, I smiled. It didn't get much better than this.

CRASH!

Jerking my head up, I glanced around but I didn't see anything. What was that noise? I pondered the mysterious sound some more before I realized that I was probably wasting my time.

BANG!

Or not.

Okay, I definitely heard that. But that would mean there was something out there making the sound, right? Yet nothing could sneak up on me when I had a clear view for as far as I could see, so what causing it?

WHACK!

Oh come on. There was nothing out here. N-o-t-h-i-n-g. There's no way those noises could appear out of thin air!

SNAP!

Right?

POP!

And it definitely shouldn't be getting closer...

CRACKLE!

And...

WOOSH!

And… it was almost here.

I gulped.

"ROOOAAAAR!"

It was coming... It was coming for me. Somehow I just knew. I had to get out of there!

But where? There was nowhere to run! The sounds were coming from everywhere and nowhere at once. If I couldn't even see what I was supposed to be running from then how could I even escape?

"ROAR!"

A shadow suddenly appeared over me. I stopped breathing... Slowly I turned around to face whatever it was that had come from behind me.

"(YOOOUUUU…)"

A monster.

I blinked. Was it a mirage? Or was a monster that was as big as a mountain, covered in spikes, had a black center, and creepy glowing yellow eyes staring back at me? And somehow it had snuck up on me, out of nowhere, in an open meadow-

-which had completely disappeared.

Say what?

Looking around… the grass… the sounds… the sun... all of it was gone. Everything had been replaced by a barren rocky landscape, where the sky was filled with a red haze, and the smells were utterly fowl.

But how was that possible?

"(I'VE BEEEEEEN LOOOOKING FOOOR YOOOUUUU...)"

On the other hand now was not the time to be asking questions.

Taking stock of the situation, I noticed I was now trapped in a creepy valley with a monster that had appeared out of thin air, and obviously wanted to eat me.

Just another day in my life I guess.

"(You want it? Come and get it!)" I dared.

"(YOOOUUUU ESCAAAPED BEEEFOOOORE...)"

Swiping at me with its massive claws I jumped out of the way to toss leaves at it. Not wasting a second, a dark ball of energy formed in its mouth. Gasping, I scramble up the edge of the cliff and fired some more leaves at the ominous looking attack, which crackled with electricity. The sudden jolt from my attack caused it to crackle and spark. A chilling wave of premonition washed over me, and my eyes widened. Leaping from the cliff at the last possible second…

KABOOM!

I was knocked across the ground, rolling and rolling until I finally came to a stop.

Internally my mind was rushing at frantic pace, had it worked? Would it be enough? Why wouldn't an explosion stop in its tracks?

Gasping from exertion, I looked everywhere for my attacker, but it seemed to have vanished. But surely it couldn't be that easy? Could it?

"(BUUUT I FOOOUUUUND...)"

I gulped as I looked up.

"(YOOOUUUU)"

Where I saw an enormous amount of energy being built up in front of its face.

It was boiling, burning with raw power, so hot the yellow mixed with white. There was no escape. An attack like this would lead to obliteration.

But still I had to try.

"(Take this!)" I screamed as I shoot out my vines toward its head in a last desperate attempt.

Is that all you've got?

Shut up! The last voice I need to hear is yours Chikarika.

Then I guess you're done for. There's not much you can do now.

Oh yeah? Just watch me.

Remember what I said? Power is the key. Too bad you never unlocked yours.

I said shut up!

Run.

Huh? That voice was different…

Run little one.

...it was so familiar.

"ROOOAAAAR!"

I could only watch as my vines disappeared into the inferno that had been unleashed. The bright light enveloped everything, the ground was no longer beneath me, it was just…

"I've seen lots of Chikorita just like this one. The Chikorita from around here are famous being stubborn, and battling bigger stronger opponents, even when they know there's no chance of winning.

So that was it? After all this time… That was all I was? A generic Pokémon? Another Chikorita among others that I rarely ever saw? Heh, and here I always thought I was at least a little bit different. But now… after everything…

Even my personality wasn't mine? That couldn't be right? Could it?

But what else was I supposed to do? Never give up. Never give in. Even in the face of impossible odds.

Because if I didn't…

"And so they end up here in the Pokémon Center."

"They just battle until they can't battle anymore.'

Then there would be nothing left. Because when you couldn't fight it was over. The game had finally come to an end.

And then apparently you get sent to the Pokémon center… Which to be honest is something I didn't expect.

Hmm… The Pokémon Center is a pretty bland, boring place if you ask me. You know, I thought the "after" if there was such a thing, would be a lot more interesting. But I guess that was punishment for losing, since you failed you had to stare at nothingness forever.

"You have to kind of admire its spirit thought."

Spirit? So after everything, what I accomplished was earning the admiration of… something. While I would normally love such an acknowledgement, what the heck kind of consolation prize is that? Yeah, great job, Chikorita. After fighting tooth and nail all your life, we admire your spirit.

But I was also felt something soft underneath me. What was this? Where was I? Everything felt fuzzy.

Willing my eyes to open, I was greeted by a dull light, it was just barely enough to make out anything. Squinting, I noticed that I was completely surrounded by dark walls of something on the outside, with a small hole that allowed the light in. The soft stuff beneath me, I had no idea what it was. But as I glanced around, it was what I didn't notice that made me start to panic.

A way out.

"(No, no. This can't be…)" I rapidly stood up, only for my leaf to hit something right above me. "(What?)" I tapped it again. But whatever it was, I couldn't see it. I tried moving forward, but I hit it again. Moving to the other side produced the same result. Gulping, I rushed around frantically to find the invisible walls were apparently everywhere.

I was trapped.

"(You can't be serious!)" I yelled. What happened? How did I-? No, I would never let myself…

The humans. Like a flash, the memories appeared before me. I had been battling the human and… I lost? No, I didn't lose. I couldn't have. I would never lose to a… human. But I remember pain, and they had me, and that woman and her pink blob they… No. Oh, heck no. They didn't. They couldn't have. There was no way.

This couldn't be a cursed ball!

It couldn't be. It couldn't! I didn't fight this long just to-! No! I refuse! They can't! They won't control me!

"(I want out!)" I screamed, before my power on the wall. I heard something that might have been a crack, and didn't hesitate to send out another torrent. I whipped out my vines to join the barrage-

CLANK!

-and knocked the walls off in the process. Huh? Well, that was easier than I thought.

Now I just had to get out of the bigger trap. Well if it worked once, it could work again. So steeling my determination, I unleashed a barrage of leaves at the wall.

DING!

Then I tried my vines.

CLANK!

After that I tried both.

Finally I just lost it.

"(You stupid thing! Why won't you break!)" I screamed, as I started thrashing my vines and throwing my leaves wildly. Panic was starting to take back over again. My eyes were darting around desperately, looking for a way, any way out of this. There has to be a way out. There just had to be.

And then I was slammed into the wall. "(OW!)"

Struggling to my feet, my breathing became ragged. That was it. I wasn't going to stand for with any longer! I was going to get out of here or faint trying!

"(You want my best?! I'll give it to you! TAKE THIS!)" I charged the wall with everything I had.

And that was how after a blinding flash, a free fall, and the shock of cold, I found myself outside the trap.

What the heck just happened?

Blinking, I took in the almost solid white surroundings of the forest around me. Snow? But that would mean I was much further up in the mountains than I had been previously. But how?

Even when I taken by those humans, we weren't that much closer to them. I couldn't have been trapped for that long, could I?

"Well, well, well. It looks like we picked up quite a catch this time."

"Yes, indeed. With spunk like that we'll have those twerps on their heels in no time."

I growled, of course, I should have known. Turning around though didn't prepare me for what I saw next.